A Little Piece of Home

Family of ....5!!!

2011-12-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

I am just as shocked to write that as you are reading it (for those of you who don't know yet!)

We went in for our free ultrasound from a friend to find out the sex of baby #2 and came to find out that it's not just a Baby #2, but a Baby #3 as well!!!! Crazy! I wanted to document that day just so I didn't forget :)

I can't promise you my blogging will get better...wish I could.

Here's our Christmas Card that has yet to go out, but I just love it. Jolaura Bell took our Christmas photographs and we actually had #1 and #2 written on the chalkboards and then she went back in with her photoshop magic and changed the numbers. Here's Jolaura's website!

So, let me just start by saying that both Grant and I thought I looked bigger than when I had Maks :)

Here is a picture when I was like 6 weeks or something early like that...at that point, most people don't even show, and I hadn't been overeating like I did with Maks! That's what I contributed it to, but now it makes sense. Glad I saved the pic. See Maks' baby bathtub in the way :)

Anyways, so here's the story of the day we found out. The many details are for me to read later and for you to enjoy now.

So, we took at trip to Mississippi to celebrate Thanksgiving a week early with The Brewer's- Grant's sister and brother-in-law...mine too...I guess I will claim them :) So, Amanda has a BFF who gave us a few free ultrasounds with Maksim (notice I keep saying FREE because it's a big deal that she did this. These puppies are EXPE-R-NSIVE!!!) So, we just planned to take a day off work and head to MS and get an ultrasound on Friday incase she couldn't see then we could come back Saturday. Grant, myself and Grant's Mom, Debbie, and of course, Maksim, rode along early Friday morning (mind you, I had been to the 12:02 a.m. showing that morning for Twilight's Breaking Dawn: Part 1...just thought I would throw that out there) to get there about lunch time. We ate at a cute little place that put mayonnaise on my sandwich, but I didn't ask for it not to be on there, I just assumed that no good restaurant would put that montrocity on a sandwich....anyways...too many details. So, after I drank a few big ole glasses of tea to get Baby #2 riled up, we headed down the street to Amanda's BFF's work (we'll call her BFF since I don't want her to get in trouble in the ultrasound world for giving me a free ultrasound)...man, I am in rare form right now :) So, we met BFF at her doctor's office and headed into the ultrasound room...this is where the fun begins.

At this point, ultrasounds are kind of routine to me. Wait, back up... Let me put this picture up:

My good friend, Lauren B, made these ornaments for me. I wanted Grant's and my parents to have something fun to open so we could tell them the sex of Baby #2. I figured that two of these ornaments would just have to be trashed, but she charged me kindly, so I didn't mind having her do these. Funny how this is a reminder of God's humor. My parents were in TN and couldn't come to the ultrasound because both of them had to work, so, I left them with two boxes. The box with a "#1" on the outside was the boy ornament and the box with the "#2" on the outside was the girl box. I brought the boxes with us in the ultrasound room for Debbie to open after we found out the sex. Our plan had been to excuse Amanda and Debbie when she was ready to find out the sex and then have them come back in to open the box with the girl or boy ornament. Oh, the reason I did the ornaments was since Christmas was soon, I figured these ornaments would be something they could remember this by. Little did I know....

Nick (Grant's Dad) was coming to MS later, so I left him, along with a few friends, a set of envelopes with these pictures in them. Again, the #1 envelope had the picture of the "It's a BOY" in it and #2 had the "It's a GIRL" picture.

So....back to the ultrasound room. Like I said, ultrasounds at this point were routine...or at least revealing my belly. Another good thing to note at this point is that I had not had an ultrasound from my doctor. I had had the doppler to hear the heart beat twice, but no ultrasounds. And, today, I had the doppler done with the doctor's office knowing I had twins and seeing how the nurse did the doppler explained why they didn't hear two heartbeats. One was on the left side of my belly and one on the right...so if they didn't have a reason to fish around my belly, I can see how they didn't hear both heartbeats.

Anyway, my doctor's reasoning was that since there were no signs of any problems, they typically didn't do ultrasounds until the 20 week gender reveal ultrasound. I just went with it. Although, I would have LOVED an ultrasound, I thought for my million dollar deductible, this really benefited Grant and I.

I laid on the table and revealed my "larger-than-I-thought-it-should-be-but-not-by-a-ton" belly to BFF. Grant, Maks, Debbie, and Amanda were in the room and just kind of chatting. The ultrasound room and machine were super high tech and there was a HUGE tv mounted so you could see the ultrasound along with a smaller tv by me to see the ultrasound. So, BFF takes her little machine thing and puts it on my belly and then I look at the screen and see two different areas. Now, at this point, the others are kind of still getting settled in and not paying a whole lot of attention to the TV. I kind of looked twice b/c it didn't look normal. Then BFF yanks the machine thing off and kind of looks at me and at this point I can imagine her trying to talk to me from her brain. I think she was trying to tell me "Hey, I see something and am wondering if you want me to get everyone but you and Grant out' ...but of course, I couldn't read her brain, so she puts the machine thing back on and then grabs my arm and looks at me with wide eyes. Now, remember that a second ago I saw two of something...or two areas....obviously a not normal ultrasound. So, back to BFF's big eyes. She grabs my arm and I look at her and say "It's twins, isn't it" and she said "YES". Ok...this is my favorite part....

So, like I said earlier, Grant, Amanda and Debbie are just kind of getting situated, talking, working to keep Maks occupied and I hear Grant go "WHAT?! Are you SER-I-OUS?" and BFF goes "Yep, IT'S TWINS!" and this is when Grant starts pacing back and forth with his hands on his head, looking at the huge TV and saying "ARE YOU SERIOUS? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" and I remember thinking: "I am sooo happy that he is smiling and excited right now :)"

Remember that as I am finding out, Grant is finding out, but also Amanda and Debbie. So, I am CRACKING UP laying on the table...my belly is bouncing so much and I am just dying laughing and Debbie and Amanda start screaming and jumping up and down...that leaves Maks. Poor baby was scared out of his sweet little mind. He starts crying and screaming. Now, just imagine being in his shoes! Poor baby is in a dark room and everyone starts screaming and he sees his Mommy laying on a table pretty much confined. So, after that, he wouldn't let anyone console him. So, as we tried to continue the ultrasound, he sat on my left side the entire time :)

BFF then asks if we want to find out the sex and if we wanted Debbie and Amanda to leave and at that point, finding out the sexes of the babies...now BABIES...was the last thing on my mind. So, I said that I didn't care...there went my ornament idea...at least with Debbie. But, who cares at this point!

So, BFF starts with Baby A and tell us that those three little white lines mean that "Baby A" is a GIRL!!! I am sooooo excited! And, my next thought is "This could be twin girls! WHAT will we do!!!" I later find out that that was Grant's thought too :) BFF goes to "Baby B" and tells us that we should recognize the parts there because Baby B is a BOY!!!

Let me rewind to a few minutes ago in the waiting room with Grant and I. I asked him what he thought it was and he said my thoughts exactly which were: "I think it would be fun to have a girl, but I think it's going to be a boy". What I had been telling whoever that asked was that kind of selfishly, I wanted it to be a girl b/c it's different BUT for Maks sake, I wanted it to be a boy. And, look at how AMAZING our God is! We got both!!!! I get to finally buy the BIG bows and tutu's AND I get another boy! Having Maks has been the most exciting thing and having another boy can only be double the fun!!!

So, BFF goes through the measurements and says from what she can tell, everything looks great. They are fraternal...our first indicator of that is that they are opposite sexes. They have two placentas-that also goes along with them being opposite sexes. I read in a book that TECHNICALLY with fraternal twins, they could be from different Dads and have been conceived on different dates. Good thing I just have Grant as my only option for a Dad, right? Honestly, I don't remember much about the ultrasound b/c it was so crazy. BFF was shocked too and said that the video she did might be pretty shaky since I was laughing through most of it.

So, after the ultrasound and pictures were printed, we called Nick, Grant's Dad, and had him pull out his two envelopes and it was pretty funny how this happened. We are all FREAKING out and he was driving so he had to pull over to the side of the road...meanwhile we are all dying for him to just pull over and open the envelopes :) He opens the boy one and says "Oh, what do you know? Another boy! Great!" and then he opens the second one and goes "Oh, a girl! How great!" but it took a second for it to register that we were having BOTH! I think he was pretty used to surprises considering Grant and Drew were twins and they were a surprise at their birth!

Then, we got to tell my parents! BFF let us stay in the ultrasound room and I called my Mom. She was all ready with her boxes. She was in the break room at Target where she's an executive and she had a few friends around her and someone video taping her. So, I call her, ask her to get her boxes and then tell her to open #1-IT'S A BOY! She's excited...there was a hint that she was hoping she would be able to dress up this 2nd baby in dresses, but she was excited!!! Here is her "excited for Baby Boy face":

Then, after she calmed down, I asked her to open the second box. She is really confused and says "What?...I just opened #1, is it a boy?!" and I tell her to just open up #2 and she's really confused and asking questions and I ask her if she has it there and she opens it and goes "WHAT? This says a girl! Is it TWINS?" and I tell her yes and then here is her face :

I thought these pictures were PRICELESS! Thank you, Mom's friend for taking these! Carrie, I think :)

Then, we call my Dad and put him on 3 way. He's excited. I think it took all he could to not start talking about the logistics of having twins...he's an engineer and I knew his brain was working overtime, but he was excited!

Here's some proof for those that can't believe it. Top is Baby B, the boy, and bottom is Baby A, the girl (names to be revealed in another post. They aren't a secret, but I can't put EVERYTHING in this post or I might be left with nothing to talk about...right...ha!)!:

The rest of the day was filled with us calling some of our friends and telling them to open their envelopes or telling them "What do you think it is?" They would answer and we would say "Yes...BUT, it's also a boy"...or whatever the opposite of what they said was. I had one of my close friends tell me she was getting nauseous for me!

Here's Maks' "I'm ready, World!" face :)

Here's another of my favorites that Jolaura took of Big Brother, Maksim!

So, over the past few weeks (about 3 weeks), we have been overwhelmingly excited and trying to not get ahead of ourselves with trying to plan things. One neat thing that I experienced was that as soon as BFF said "Yes" to my question of "Is it TWINS?" I had an immediate peace. I know the Lord knew my analytical brain would start thinking about money and things we have no control over and I think he wanted me to enjoy this brand new news, so he gave me a peace.

Now, I am not going to say I haven't had a few minutes of freaking out, because they have been there, but one of my favorite things Grant said was that the day we found this out was right there on the top of his list of exciting days-along with our wedding and the birth of Maks. I have had some worries over how Maks will be and that transition time of him maybe having to wait for my attention, but I know he will be fine because in the long run, he will love having the brother and sister and love being so close in age. My fear that I had to give over to the Lord was the fear that Maks wouldn't get the attention he is used to from me and that I would be shortening him of something. But, I have to remember that it's not all about me and that we will have overwhelming support and Maks will not have a lack of people caring about him. I just want to make sure that I am there for him.

We are feeling so privileged to have this INCREDIBLE blessing and couldn't be happier. I am not blind to the fact that it will be hard, but I know we can handle it with God.

Did I mention that if I carry these twins full term (which my doctor guaranteed me today would NOT happen) then Maks will be 19 month-ish old. So, we will have three kids in under 2 years!

And, I will leave you with that thought....

Prayer & Regret

2011-09-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to combine two topics and MAYBE link them together :)

I saw someone's status on September 11, 2011 (this year, obviously) that said something to the affect of "Just because it's September 11th doesn't mean all of the commercials today need to try to make me cry"...and I am not trying to make anyone have any emotions that they don't want to have. That being said, I wanted to "Remember September 11th" a little (even though I am a few days late).

I started Sunday at my in-laws house. We stayed there because Grant was out of town and we are sitting down for breakfast with Maks and there are all of these "September 11th Specials" going on and I am bawling within 5 minutes. Not every September 11th effects me like this, but for some reason this 10th anniversary was different for me. I have read two of Karen Kingsbury's books about 9/11: "One Tuesday Morning" & "Beyond Tuesday Morning" (what the combined book looks like is the picture below) and I believe there is one more after that, but I just read these two:

And, I know the books were fiction, but it helped to understand what it would be like from the perspective of friends and family of 9/11 victims...and maybe that's why I was more affected this year. But, Debbie (MIL) actually turned the channel to cartoons...probably because she thought I might scare Maks with my wailing. But, this year, it really did affect me differently.

Grant had posted where he was on 9/11/01:

"Where were you ten years ago today? I was in typing class and a crying teacher turned on the tv as the towers fell"

And, you know. I am actually embarrassed of where I was when the towers fell...Well, not actually embarrassed at the location of where I was but my reaction. I was in my Home Ec class (not sure of the name and not going to share the teachers name) and I remember that we were watching it and the second tower hadn't been hit yet and then we saw the second tower hit and my teacher did something I thought was so brave. She could have literally lost her job (I went to a very public school if there is such a thing as a VERY public school, ha!), but I remember her saying: "If there are any Christians in the room that want to pray, feel free to come up to my desk and we will be praying for what is going on right now".

And, I didn't.

I remember it with regret because I did not stand up for Jesus that day. Now, I did bow my head at my desk and pray and pray and pray, but I didn't have the guts to go up to the front of the class and bow at my teachers desk. It was my teacher and one other girl. To this day, I can remember their faces and I was so scared of my peers rejection that I couldn't even stand up for the Jesus that I believed in. And, everyone KNEW I was a Christian.

That's how I remember September 11th. And, maybe that's why I was so broken this 10th anniversary. Because of how I have matured in Christ and remembering how wimpy Angela in high school couldn't even do something as simple as pray in front of the class. And, I have done other things to stand out as a Christian like "See You at The Pole" and my classmates knew me as someone who went to Bellevue regularly, but for some reason, that day, I was frozen in fear.

I just want to slap High School Angela. Geez. Can't think about it anymore.

I read my devo today about Jesus throwing out everyone who had set up shop in the Temple.

Matthew 21: 12-14: "...My house was designated a house of prayer; You have made it a hangout for thieves."

The devotional says to imagine that you are there when Jesus comes in the temple and cleanses it. Who are you? Where are you? What are the expressions on the faces around you? Now let the blind and crippled come into your view. Watch Jesus healing them. Listen to the voices of the children as they play and shout, "Hosanna!" What's your reaction to them? To Jesus' interaction with the disabled? To the indignation of the religious leaders? Then it tells us to imagine Jesus walking out of the city and up to you and initiating a conversation with you about the events of the day. What would you tell him.

I hope that high school Angela and Momma Angela would be excited about what Jesus did and not one of the ones embarrassed at what he did. I could throw up thinking about High School Angela on September 11th. The good thing about Jesus is his forgiveness and mercies are new each morning. Thank God. Literally.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

Ok, moving on to my "prayer" topic.

Ha. I can imagine some of you thinking..."Ok, where in the WORLD is she going with this". Good thought :)

So, I went to see the movie BEFORE reading the book. So uncool, I know. But, as I was reading the book, it came to a part about prayer. I am not copyrighting this next part. I give full credit to the author, Kathryn Stockett for writing "The Help: a novel". Hope this covers my behind. Here is a little of what I read (if you don't know anything about the book or movie, the book is written from the position of "The Help" ...and for the first 23 pages of what I have read, it is Aibileen, one of the Help, writing:

"...The thing is though, if I start praying for Miss Skeeter, I know that conversation gone continue the next time I see her. And the next and the next. Cause that's the way prayer do. It's like electricity, it keeps things going...

'Minny', I say last Sunday, 'why Bertrina ask me to pray for her?' We walking home from the one o'clock service. Minny say, 'Rumor is you got some kind a power prayer, gets better results than just the regular variety.'....

'Eudora Green, when she broke her hip, went on your list, up walking in a week. Isaiah fell of the cotton truck, on your prayer list that night, back to work the next day.'

'But that ain't me,' I say. 'That's just prayer.'

Then there was a VERY hilarious part here that I can't put on my blog...but it was sure funny!!!! Moving on...

Her friend, Minny, finishes up the conversation saying:

'...They just think you got a better connection than most. We all on a party line to God, but you, you setting right in his ear.'

I want that to be said of me. That people can turn to me to pray for them and they know I am going to pray and that I will pray enough and not stop until it gets answered.

Oh, Aibileen and Minny. Worth reading. Not really Christian driven but as I learned a while back:

1. Pray without ceasing

2. Find God in everything. Your Christianity should be your life, not something that you do a couple times a day. Being a follower of Christ IS your identity....So, there. You can find God in "The Help"...and everything else.

A Heart Matter

2011-08-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

I admit that when I first started this post, I googled "funny quotes" because I wanted to begin this in a different way...and as I was looking at these not really funny but stupid quotes such as:

-Ladies first; Pretty ladies sooner

-There is only one perfect child in the world and every mother has it

or, my favorite

-Marriage is give and take. You'd better give it to her or she will take it away

Clearly these were not written by a comedian.

Then, as I started to google more funny quotes thinking I would come up with the BEST one, I saw my bible and my devotional and it was like a light bulb moment and I visioned God looking at me laughing and going "Duh"...how about some REAL quotes!

The devo was from Matthew 15: 1-14 and several things stuck out to me. This is from the message version (by the way, I would love to hear your thoughts on The Message translation. As of now, I am reading that AND the English Standard Version because from what I understand, The Message is a paraphrase...is that right? Either way, it makes it REALLY understandable for me!-Sorry for the long sidebar...just how my brain works!):

"Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, 'Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?.' But Jesus put it right back on them. 'Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.' That can hardly be respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye: 'These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it. They act like they're worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy'....Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."

My first reaction is the think, "Those dumb Pharisees! Jesus is there with them and they are still acting like that?!!!" and then the devotional says that sometimes we often resemble the Pharisees more than we'd like to admit. Wham! Bam! Talk about conviction! Way to humble a girl! The devo tells us to pray and ask for Jesus-like hearts, one that is humble, transparent, and genuine.

Speaking of being transparent and genuine...

I was talking to a friend the other day about how, as Christians, I think that we need to be sooooo transparent, especially to other believers! How many of us struggled with depression, loneliness, being affected by HUGE things like possibly a husband who struggles with pornography, or a wife who struggles with fantasizing about a life with another man, or an affair that has affected you indirectly or directly... I mean, we would be LYING to say that we didn't struggle with things. The tough thing is that I feel like as believers we are tricked into thinking that we have to show this almost perfect facade or people won't come to church or if someone knows of our "secret struggles" they might think less of you. And, truth is, they might, but if they are a true believer and friend, and start thinking with a biblical mindset then the BEST thing you can do is to open up to other believers and let them tell you what they've been through or maybe they know someone who can help.

Now, I am not saying that with this "day and age" of Facebook to change your Facebook status to say everything that comes to your mind or to tell ALL million of your Facebook or Twitter friends that you just found out your spouse was cheating on you or you are so sad you might cut yourself. That's not what I mean. I just mean, be more open to the struggles of others and be more willing to share what you've been through...why else would God have allowed you to go through it?

I realized that that might have sounded like I was a know-it-all and we know we all LOVE it when people tell them what to do, but I am truly preaching to the choir.

And, to think...I started this blog wanting to just show pictures from my cousin's baby's 1st birthday and my good friend, Lauren's wedding! So, I will leave you with these things!

Me & The Lovely (now) Mrs. O'Neill!

Sidebar (again!): Most amazing dress! It was her Mom's that they reconstructed for Lauren. Talk about sentimental. It was her "Something Borrowed"

Lovely Bridesmaids! Her Sister-in-law and Matron of Honor on left, Whitney, then her Maid of Honor and cousin, Erin, then Lauren and I! Loved her color scheme!

Interior Designers aren't just good for home design! We have an eye for color, too!

Me & my Hubby! Love him more every day!

Only took 2 shots to get a good one of him not acting crazy :)

Lauren and her Momma!

L and her Mother-in-law (now)

Now on to Karly's party!

I always get these kind of things wrong, but I believe they are 2nd cousins! Grant, Brad, and Holly are cousins and these are their kids.

Maks and Karly are only about 2 weeks apart!

And, ALL of the 2nd cousins! Maks, Barrett, Luke, Kylie, Karly, and Bailey!

The Birthday Babies and then a picture of Karly devouring her cake! So cute!

She smiled honestly the whole time I saw her!

MaMaw and her crew of great grandkids!

And, selfishly, two more from Maksim's 1st birthday. I love that someone got this picture of me and Maks smiling at each other and the other is a picture of his bday outfit since we didn't get a good enough shot of it!

The outfit is from MadiBella. Check it out:

On Facebook, On Etsy, or On the MadiBella website

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Maksim's 1st Birthday Party!!!

2011-08-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

We.Had.A.Blast.

That is an understatement.

Here are some pictures of the event!

The theme was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and in the children's story, the caterpillar is hungry and eats ALL this food on different days...then gets stuffed...and then turns into a butterfly! So, I thought

1. It's a party and we need food

2. This book has tons of food ideas in it

Why not combine the need for food and the story!!!

Here is a picture of the spread. We had ALL sorts of goodies for the Little Caterpillars and their Big Butterflies (adults)

The AMAZING cake that my sister, Kristina, and my Mom had made for Maks

The cake pops that I made! Notice the cake pops are arranged in the shape of a caterpillar on the styrofoam. I made them with chocolate cake mix (chocolate cake was one of the things the Very Hungry Caterpillar ate and so was a lollipop...cake pop was close enough!)

The invitation is also showcased below as well. A good friend from church made all of those for us!

Probably my favorite thing next to the cake was the ice cream cone cupcakes! The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate an ice cream cone, but with the weather being so hot lately, I didn't want to fool with the mess of ice cream cones and young children. I had a blast making them and from what I hear, they were yummy!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar also ate a piece of cherry pie, but we settled for a cherry on top of the ice cream cone cupcakes!

We needed some food options for the adults, so I found this caterpillar layout of sandwiches and we replicated it below. We did some of the sandwiches as peanut butter and jelly and some as ham, cheese and turkey.

My sister, Kristina, wanted to have these CUTE cookies made for Maksim...I wish I took a better picture of them, but these were some of the favors for our guests

The Very Hungry Caterpillar also ate 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries and 5 oranges (I might have the order a little off, but you get the point) so, we wanted to have those out to eat as well!

The picture also shows a few more favors. Butterfly jars filled with cereal of different colors to stick with the bright theme! We labeled these caterpillar and butterfly foods!

And, we had strawberry lemonade suffice for the strawberries that The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate!

He also ate a pickle...my kind of caterpillar! Those were surprisingly gone within the first hour! I bought a HUGE jar of those!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar also ate swiss cheese, salami and sausage!

And, although the caterpillar didn't technically drink anything...we are human and needed to replenish! So, we got some cokes and Izze's for the adults or Butterflies!

Also, we made biscuit pizzas with caterpillar design on the top made out of pepperoni, green peppers and olives!

Our little family photo for the day! Then, some pictures of Maks and his smash cupcake! We also had insect antennas for a few of the guests...I didn't make enough for the 62 (!!!!!) guests that came! WOW!

I know I am biased, but he is just the CUTEST!!!

Almost a YEAR!

2011-08-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am typing this but my baby is almost a year old! I just can't believe it!

As I look back at pictures I can remember the day he was born and had forgotten some of the feelings that came with that, but what a blessing this little guy has been to me and Grant!

During my pregnancy, I had a few girls that were also pregnant at the same time. One of them had a sweet girl who had her 1st birthday party last weekend that we were lucky to have attended. It's just so amazing to see Maks and her at this age! And, in the other picture to the right (below) is another baby who was born a few months after Addy and Maks! I remember how much I loved having friends to compare notes with on my pregnancy. Truly a blessing!

So, I hope the time does not continue to fly by...though I am LOVING the age Maks is at now! It might be harder to get him to sleep at night, but he is so fun and loving to his Momma and Dad!

I will make sure to post pictures from his birthday soon! I might have went a LITTLE overboard with his 1st Birthday. My Mom told me today that I got it from her and that she KNOWS I remember my first birthday party...ha...what we will do for our children!

From March to August

2011-08-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

I guess you can say I took a sabbatical from blogging. An unintentional sabbatical, that is.

Life got crazy and blogging was put on the back burner, but boy did I miss it. I missed catching up on others blogs, getting encouraged by what I read and blogging out my thoughts. So, I thought I would come back with a bang! Spruce up the ole' blog and start a-new!

What's new? Apparently a ton!

My Little Man, Maks! Here are a few of my favorite recent pictures!

Grant sent this one to me with the caption: "Time are hard for everyone"

Maks LOVES his baths! Now he's thinking he can walk around our bathtub. Scares me to DEATH!

Maks at friend, Izzy's 1st Birthday!

Maks is now 11 months, no longer 7 months. 15 days and counting and he will be the big O-N-E!!! I am in shock, truly. He is growing like a weed...well, at least to me! He's only in the 3rd percentile for his growth. I say it doesn't bother me, but yet, I keep bringing it up! In the back of my mind I just keep thinking that he's going to grow up and get made fun of at school for being a "little guy", but I know with his Dad's humor, sarcasm, and personality, Maksim will be able to take it with a grain of salt! And, then, probably like his Dad, he will shoot up and be tall and all the girl will want him.

At this point, he is walking, but what I like to call "hold-on-to-me-Mommy" walking! He can move from item to item but he just hasn't figured out how to balance enough to walk from furniture piece to furniture piece. He is eating table food. I figured this one out a little late, but he's doing fine! He tried eggs with cheese this morning and is LOVING them! I still have this horrible fear of him choking! I think that and drowning are my two biggest fears. Funny how my fears changed from railroad tracks and elevators to having to do with food and water! Oh, how my life has changed! But, wouldn't trade it for the world!

Church is AMAZING and work is as well! I will save those topics for later blogs. I have a tendency to post FOREVER and I wanted to share a little about a devotional Grant just got me called "Solo: An Uncommon Devotional". I am only on Day 2, but I think it's pretty awesome.

Yesterday's devo was what I like to call "Let your "Yes" mean "Yes" and your "No" mean "No". What spoke to me was the passage in Matthew 5: 33-37 (this is from The Message version):

"And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying 'I'll pray for you.' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong."

Today's devo had to do with Prayer (what the devo is ultimately about) and The Message stated the Lord's Prayer in a very practical and relevant way that helped me to break it down:

"Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best-as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes"

I won't spoil the devotionals by typing everything because I encourage you to try this one out.

So, I'm back in the swing of things and hope to keep pushing-or writing- on!

Camp Electric

2011-03-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of a student who came to Camp Electric last year and made it on Oprah's show about the Most Talented Kids. Pretty cool! For those of you who don't know, this is Camp Electric is my pretty awesome job. I am blessed. Enjoy!!!

Former Camp Electric Alum Graham Stookey on OPRAH playing with Lenny Kravitz! http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Rockstar-Lenny-Kravitz-Surprises-Fan-Video

The "D" Word.

2011-03-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Depression.

Everyone cringed when I wrote that word.

One thing I have learned from my husband is to not steer away from topics no one likes to talk about. He has been talking about sex with the youth students and he hasn't been holding back much. I never would have heard some of the things he has brought up in my youth group/s growing up, BUT I wish I had. These tough topics need to be discussed.

Back to the scary "D" word.

I have had an overwhelming amount of people, books, blogs, etc. where this subject has come up and I would be lying if I said I had never felt that word in my life.

I am not a doctor, but I think there are several different "levels" of depression. I believe it can be a fleeting thing and it can also be something that sticks with you and you may need help coping with.

I have been reading Mary Beth Chapman's book "Choosing to SEE" where she talks about how she has struggled with depression for YEARS and she has had to take medication to help her. Those meds were upped when her daughter passed away. But, she says it's a constant part of who she is.

So, that is the very hard end of the spectrum.

Then, I have had friends say that because of an event/s in their lives they have had times of momentary depression. I would probably fall closer to this end of the spectrum.

Please read this:

Psalm 42

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"

4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty Onet
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

8 By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?"

10 My bones suffer mortal agony
as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
"Where is your God?"

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Now, if anyone has ever said that the Bible is not relevant in our lives today, that shows me that it is. This Psalmist was going through a time of spiritual depression. He said "Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?"...I do believe that depression is something from the enemy, but we have the power to overcome it.

Here is a blog that someone referred me to. Amazing. The blog is called "Enjoying the Small Things" by Kelle Hampton.

Take the time to read this: Nella Cordelia Birth Story

Kelle's second girl was born with Down Syndrome. They didn't know it until she had given birth and the girl was in her arms.

Then read this: Down Syndrome

I think this blog post puts things in perspective. If anyone had a "right" to have a time of mourning or depression, it was her and I love one of the things that she said about feeling blessed that she had been chosen for this task. You would have to have read Nella's whole birth story to see where Kelle had came to this point. Now, I am not sure if Kelle is a believer or not, but it made me think of a lot of things.

It made me think: How selfish am I? It also made me think about what other people are going through and how certain things may seem like mountains to me, but in the grand scheme of things and in the grand scheme of eternity...how meaningless are these petty "problems" I have. I have really tried to see the world from a more eternal perspective with "Kingdom Eyes" as Grant likes to call them.

I challenge you to do the same.

If you are looking for some more encouragement about depression, I encourage you to read this article from John Piper

If you have been following my blog for a while, you will see that I am all about prayer. If I can pray for you, please give me the privilege! You can email me at my first and last name .mac :) Or, leave a message on here for me to contact you.

God Bless.

Headphones!

2011-03-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to share these nifty headphones we got for Maks! He is always coming with us to concerts, church services with loud bands (good bands) playing so I decided to attempt to save his hearing! We have 2 concerts just this weekend plus Sunday service so I know these will get good use out of them!

Life Lately

2011-03-02T08:47:00.000-08:00

I am baaaaaccckkkk...

So, once again, I am an awful blogger but I honestly love it so I am going to try oh so hard to keep up with this :) So much to update...where to start.

Maks is 6 months old as of yesterday (shows you how long it's been since my last update). Here are a few pictures of our growing boy!

He LOVES to sip on anything we are drinking. We don't actually let him taste it, but he actually gets antsy when he sees us drinking (and now eating) anything and not letting him experiment with it. Here's a picture of him sipping some sweet tea at The Rendezvous for his Grandmommy's Birthday!

Here's a lunch play date with our friend, Laura Epting and her sweet baby girl, Izzy. Izzy has made her appearance on my blog before. Her and Maks are 2 weeks apart and that's pretty much how it was through Laura and I's pregnancy.

Happy Boy laughing!

Below at Grandpa Daycare enjoying (?) some cereal :) I think he looks like me here.

Eating...our favorite thing :)

I always thought I would not be that person that posts everything on Facebook/Twitter about my child because I thought "who cares?" but that's pretty much my life and I care so that's all that matters, right? Ha!

At 6 Months Maks is:

-Grabbing everything

-Putting everything in his mouth

-Sitting up pretty good, but he still needs a little guidance

-Rolling when we actually put him on his stomach...he hates it (since 4 months)

-Loves his Johnny Jump up

-Eating rice cereal 2x a day and fruit as well

-He HATES green beans but loves sweet peas, bananas and most of the fruit

-Pretty much just started sleeping through the night a few days ago. I put him down at 10 p.m., he woke up at midnight and Grant changed his diaper and he went right back to sleep (he usually eats then) and didn't wake up again until 5:30 a.m.! Amazing! Last night he only slept from about 9:45 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. but that's a good 6 hours which the doctor counts as "sleeping through the night"...so he's making it

-We use an Angel Care Monitor which he tends to roll off of, so an alarm goes off (it monitors the baby's breathing and if it doesn't sense breathing for 20 seconds, it sends off an alarm that stops when it picks the breathing back up again). The alarm went off the other night and Grant SHOT up and ran up there and he had just rolled into a little ball by the head of the bed. He likes to sleep curled up and sometimes holding his toes :)

-He still loves his bouncer

-Does much better in his carseat (when he was first born he was great then started to hate it and is back to doing great again)

-He recognizes Grant and I as his parents and has started to cry when we leave him. Selfishly, I love that he misses us :) Bad...I know.

Update on our church and ministry:

Grant has started last month preaching full time at our Bartlett campus Christ Church. It has been so awesome. I love being at one location (not that I don't love the Arlington campus, because I do!) but I love getting plugged into this specific location. I am giving choir a shot (luckily they don't have tryouts!) and we are still doing youth group. Grant is doing an amazing job juggling it all and Maks and I are trying to tag along as much as we can! Here's our church website!

Much more to update, but I will save some for the next post.

Happy 5 Months, Maks!

2011-02-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

(I am completely copying off of my friend, Lauren's blog with this :) ~)

I can't believe it's been over 5 months since my sweet baby was born!!! It's true that time REALLY does fly by!

Here are some of your likes, Maks:

-You LOVE to hear your Daddy preach, talk, sing, etc. Any time we go to church and Daddy is up front, you will strain your neck to hear him.

-You are my little worm! You squirm sooo much! It's hard to feed you unless you are extremely tired because you don't want to miss a thing! You will jerk your head in one direction and then back to the other. You are very attentive and aware.

-At your 4 month doctors appointment, that was the first time you rolled over from your belly to your back. You rolled to the right and the left. Daddy and I looked like dummies when we said you hadn't rolled yet. The doctor had to go back to her developmental chart to change the results! So proud!

-At that same doctors appointment you weighed 13 pounds! You are growing from your preemie 5 pounds 14 oz! Doctor says you are long and lean and that's how they like it! In a world where "Biggest Loser" is a hit (sad for the people, but happy they are doing something about their weight), I am glad you are starting out just like your Daddy. Here is a picture of your Daddy and your Uncle. I can't tell who is who. I THINK your Dad is on the left! :)

-You LOVE your Johnny Jumper! You first tried it out at your Grandmommy and Grandpa Nixon's house. I think you like chewing on it more than anything!

-You had your first snow of 2011 this past month and we actually sat you down in it! It wasn't your first time to see snow, but it was still fun!

-You aren't the best napper, but when you have someone holding you, you can sleep like a champ!

-You helped celebrate your Grandpa Morella's Birthday last month (along with Aunt Kristina and Aunt Beeb's, too and Uncle Mikey's this month)

-You started cereal in January and you like it ok, but you LOVE IT with your fruit! Apples, pears, peaches! YUM!

-We will see if Grandma Morella reads Mommy's blog, because sometimes, her fashion choices for you are questionable :) She's gotten much better, though :) She would blame this next picture on me not giving you your winter coat

-You are a people person like your Mommy and Daddy!

-Mommy LOVES to dress you up and show you off! Though you rarely keep one outfit on for very long...you like to drool a TON (I think you started teething back at 3 months) and throw up as soon as I take your bib off.

-Dad, Grandmommy and Grandpa Nixon think it's funny, but I LOVE to give you raspberries like in this picture and make "gun" noises (as your Dad calls it) at you ...Phew, phew, phew, phew, phew! You love it! :)

-We moved you to your crib this month...yes, we should have done it earlier, but I am ok with it. The first two nights you cried for a while but the third night you cried for 5 minutes and from then on, you go right to sleep. You are still waking up in the middle of the night, but that's ok. I do wonder, though, if it is out of habit or necessary. Doctor says while you are still small, it might be a necessary feeding.

-You LOVE anything colorful! I think we made the right choice with the colors in your room!

-You love your bouncers...for about half an hour

Quit growing up so fast :)

Humility

2011-02-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

I received this devotion from crosswalk.com today and thought I would share it with the blogging world. By Margaret D. Mitchell (give credit where credit is due :) )

This hit home and convicted me big time.

Humility
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." ~Col. 3:12

Very recently, God sent me back into the workforce. One of many things He said to me beforehand was "Humility." What I sensed that meant for me was that He purposed this job assignment to do a work of humility in me and that humility would be a key for survival. Whoa, was He right!

Divine humility is the opposite of pride. It is confidence in God, not self. It is unpretentiousness at its finest. It was the walk of Jesus, and it can be ours if we choose it or, as in my case, thrust into it.

Contrary to some beliefs, true humility is not passive, pathetic or weak. Rather, it is divinely powerful. It does not pause at or placate to foolishness. Rather, it ushers in unity. It does not damage us or grieve the Holy Spirit. Rather, it honors God, and God, in turn, honors us when we exercise it according to His plan (Prov. 15:33). Like truth, humility is a swift and divine weapon of righteousness, unity, love and wisdom that we can choose to wield.

Many of us understand that we are to humble ourselves before the Lord. But what about choosing humility in the face of false accusers, persecutors, people who intend to harm us? People who compete with us? People who react out of fear and insecurity? The ones the enemy uses to separate believers and thwart divine plans. The ones God uses to test us? Jesus chose humility. His example was an important demonstration for us, a divine strategy, an assignment from The Father.

Surely, as He painfully hung on the cross with undeserved insults hurled at Him, His flesh and His heart ached for relief. But He knew He was on a high mission to save a world of people for generations. He knew His role of obedience and love, of priority, of divine purpose. He knew divine truth in the face of ignorance. He knew His Father and the humbling power of His love and mercy, and He was obedient to the call, even though it opposed man's limited understanding.

Jesus did not fall to the enemy's devices. He needed no man's approval, only His Father's. He trusted in His Father's plan. He understood that humbling Himself unto the Father also meant responding with humility to man (Titus 3:2). He knew that God's grace would sufficiently carry Him through the mission and that His divine purpose would be fulfilled regardless of man's actions. Indeed, God was in control.

It is difficult to provoke a truly humble person into a dispute because they will lean into God's powerful love, peace and mercy when attacked, just like Jesus. Simply put: Humble people do not react to other people's issues. They are not controlled by them. They respond in the Spirit because they do not feel the need to prove their worth to others. They know their security and identity rests in Christ, even if others do not. They are committed to the Lord's ways, and they are purposed. They are too dedicated in seeking the Lord's righteousness and humility to give way to futile, self-exalting spats. They hold onto God's power like a lifeline, and they are not willing to foolishly let it go.

You will know humble people by the fruit they bear and the mercy, peace and sincerity they exhibit (James 3:13-18). This is because God can work His virtues through a humble person, whereas, with a prideful person, this cannot be. Rather, selfishness rules, leaving little space for God to operate. When we choose selfishness, we get what we choose: Our limitations.
Conversely, the humble journey is a true adventure. There is great freedom and excitement in soaring with our trustworthy God. Yielded to Him, He will take us higher than we can venture on our own or even imagine. Yielded to Him, we receive His supernatural power, favor, rewards, strength, provision, love, grace, mercy and strategies to complete divinely-appointed assignments that are larger than we. Is there any greater thrill?

Who among us couldn't use more divine humility? I am challenged daily to respond to circumstances like Jesus, in His strength, His power and His love. It is a process, a lifestyle, a series of moment-by-moment choices, a walk. If you would like to break out of the prison of limitation, repent and take hold of the Lord's hand. Choose to trust Him. Soar with Him. And prepare to be awed like never before!

Food!

2011-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Who won't read a blog titled "Food"? Ha!

My sister and I started back up with Weight Watchers (I have been going by it since 8 weeks after Maksim was born, but they now have a new Points Plus System so Kristina and I decided to go to a class to learn more about it).

One place I found that is AMAZING is Genghis Grill! Grant and I got a gift certificate there for Christmas and we took our first "date night out" since Maks was born to there. We had never been there before and WE LOVED IT!

The great thing about it that pertains to Weight Watchers is that you can go on their website and "Build your Own Bowl" and it adds up the nutritional values for you on the right hand side based on what you pick.

Step 1: Choose Your Protein: I chose Chicken

Step 2: Season Your Protein: I chose Citrus Garlic Herb and Cajun Seasoning

Step 3: Pick your Veggies: Have I mentioned that I have been 3x in one week?! I stick to generally the same thing, but I have changed the veggies up a bit. What I will probably stick with from now on though is potatoes and an egg.

Step 4: Select a Sauce: I combined two: Honey Soy Sauce and Island Teriyaki Sauce

Step 5: Call Your Starch: I chose Brown rice

The total Nutritional Facts for me came out to this:

Calories: 498.92
Protein (g):36.66
Carbohydrates (g):66.88
Dietary Fiber (g):6.02
Total Fat (g):4.96
Saturated Fat (g):4.9
Cholesterol (mg):246
Sodium (mg):1793.94

Which on the new Points Plus system gave me: 11 points

Try it out! It won't disappoint!

GROWING UP!

2011-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

So, I got called out...again...for not updating my blog. Thanks, Candace! Ha!

I thought I would start this blog NOT talking about Maks...we will see how long that lasts. I ran across these pictures of my dog, Reilly...a puggle. That's half pug, half beagle. When I bought him, you could see why I thought he was going to be the perfect little purse dog!

Here he is within the first week we took him home. Remember, the place we bought him told us he would be between 10-15 pounds.

Here's a picture of him at over 45 POUNDS from when it snowed this past Monday in Memphis...he is the smaller of the two. The other is our Great Dane, Tony:

Needless to say, I was hoping he would stay the small size we thought he would. Annnnnddd, here's comes me talking about Maks! OOHHH, you all knew it was coming :)

He's a few pictures of my snow bunny:

This wasn't technically his first snow, but it was his first snow that we got a picture in and the first snow of 2011, so we are calling it his "first snow"!

Luckily, I had a nice snow day at home to relax and chill with my two favorite boys all day! It was wonderful!

On another note, Maksim slept in his crib for the first time last night! Yes, he is almost 4 1/2 months and he is just now going in his crib. But, cut us some slack here... we are first time parents and selfishly, I didn't want to do it! But, even just doing it last night, I feel better rested and I can tell he does, too!

For anyone curious...here's how it worked for us and I was pretty impressed. I had talked to a good amount of girlfriends who are Mommy's and got their advice and then just picked from that what I wanted to do.

We had girls (and guys) Focus groups last night (small groups for our youth) and the girls went to McAlister's Deli. Maks was crying for the last little bit then and I couldn't figure out if he was hungry or tired. We fed him a little, but he didn't eat more than 3 oz (which he has been doing this past week b/c he has been sick) and on the drive home, he kind of whimpered for a few minutes and then fell asleep in the backseat. Well, when we got home, I let him sleep in his carseat for a few minutes while I played on the computer. Usually we take him out of his carseat, but the last few nights with him had been kind of rough. I think he was just saying to us "PLEASE, PLEASE PUT ME ON A SCHEDULE B/C I AM A BABY AND DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO", ha! So, he woke up and I started feeding him a little after 9. I thought...here goes nothing...and started the process that I had semi planned in my head. He was already kind of tired so that may or may not have helped. So, after burping him, we proceeded up to his bedroom (which I love...it's pretty calm for both of us, I think) and I prepped his bed with the monitor and then began to read to him. I read my favorite book when I was young,

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

He really liked it, I think :) He LOVES anything with colors so, I tried to read slow and let him look at all the colors against the white background. We went through the book twice. Then I prayed out loud...kind of through tears...I am a very emotional person. I just prayed that this wouldn't be horrible and that Maks wouldn't hate me. Stupid to feel those things, but that's what I felt.

Then, I turned on his mobile, put a blanket over him, put his pacifier in (which was out by the time I got to the door) and proceeded to check the time and leave him there. He pretty much immediately started crying, but it was a different kind of crying...it was more of a "I'm tired" cry...but not a horrible kind. He did a little bit of the horrible kind for maybe a minute, but over all, it was a pretty "not horrible for Mommy" cry. We started him in there at 9:51...yep, I am that exact, and Grant came home about 10-15 minutes after that. I had been pretty much staring down the monitor to make sure he was ok and we decided to send Grant up there. The doctor advised that if he was still crying after 15 minutes, go in there, tell him he's ok and pat or rub his belly and then leave without picking him up. She said that if that made him cry harder then we would know to NOT do that the next time/s. Well, Grant went up there and Maks smiled SOOOO big! He hadn't seen his Daddy all day and I think he thought he was coming there to rescue him. But, Grant just talked to him for a minute or two and then came back down stairs and I would say no more than 10 minutes later, he was out like a light. I was kind of in shock! So, about 10:20, he was asleep! I was AMAZED!!!

I am not sure how different I would want to do it with the next one. I know 8 weeks is kind of the normal for putting them in their beds, but I also know that each child and family is different. Now, granted, we shouldn't have waited double that time for his sanity and ours, but I still did enjoy the time we had him in our room.

So, the Lord was faithful and answer my prayer of helping me emotionally get through this and we all did wonderful!!!

Now, just to get him to repeat that and do the same with nap times...

The Nixon Family 2010 Update!

2011-01-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas cards went out today. Yes, today...officially 10 days after Christmas and 4 days after New Years. But, hey...better late than never is my new motto!

Since I listed my blog on our Christmas card, I thought I would do a "letter" as if I put it in with my Christmas card. So, here goes nothing...or everything!

I will start with New Years Eve last year. Grant and I had discussed getting pregnant in 2009 and having the baby (now officially, Maksim Samuel Nixon) in 2010. God has a hilarious sense of humor allowing us to figure out we were pregnant on New Year's Eve (pretty much officially on that day). We found out a few days after Christmas when my friend, Allison, gave me 3 of her dollar store pregnancy tests. All were very vague in their diagnosis so we went to Walgreens and bought one that we thought would be clearer with the "plus", "minus" signs. We got a best out of like 6 saying we were pregnant. So, the next day, I hopped on over to my then OBGYN and they ran two pregnancy tests and told me I was NOT PREGNANT. I told them I had 3 tests at home that said I was and they said...still...that I wasn't and to come back in 2 weeks. Uuuum...impossible to wait two more weeks to know whether or not I was pregnant. So, New Year's Eve is when I took probably three more tests and got the ones that said "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant" and all of them said I was preggy. So, needless to say, I switched doctors pretty quickly. I totally understand that it was still early, but I just felt they were tact-less in their whole approach with me.

So, Grant and I got a sweater and iron on letters that said "Baby On Board" and jumped on over to our parents houses New Years Day, the official start of our crazy 2010 year, and told everyone the news! So, that begins our 2010 year!

A lot of changes have happened...good things, mostly.

Grant/ God's Ministry:

For those of you who may not know, Grant is the youth pastor at Christ Church Bartlett AND Arlington. It's an awesome, fun job and he ultimately loves it and we love calling Christ Church our home! One thing that changed this year is that Grant and I went on a trip with my job to California and visited a church while we were there and from that stemmed our Saturday Night service at Christ Church that we refer to as CCSaturdayNights. One of our "motto's" is "Finally a church with people I can relate to and a message I can understand". Through Saturday nights, we have met some amazing band guys called "Remnant" and they and their wives, families and friends have become like second families to us! The group of people that attend on Saturday nights have become pretty tight knit... We are blessed!

The youth has evolved and changed (as it should). We have taken a good amount of trips...white water rafting (I missed this year's because it would have been impossible to accomplish that while 8/9 months pregnant), Gatlinburg and we had a ton of Reverb's (our Wednesday and Sunday night "hangout" for students) along with fun functions weekly. Not a week goes by that we don't have something planned with the students and we love it!

Grant has continued to teach our Thursday Night Bible Study with close friends of ours. This year we added 3 new babies on top of our one veteran child, Hudson Butler, who turned 1 year this year! The 3 new additions are: Eleanor "Ellie" Metcalf, Isabella "Izzy" Epting, and Maksim "Maks" Nixon.

We are praying about expanding our ministry for the glory of God in 2011.

Angela's Job:

I work for a company called "Camp Electric" and LOVE it! It's a Christian Rock and Roll and Worship Camp for students 13-19 years old who play guitar, bass, drums, keys, sing (vocals) and we recently added a song writing track. We are expanding to two locations in 2011. We have been in Nashville, Tennessee for the past three years and will continue there again this year, but we have also added Cedarville University in Cedarville, OH! Super excited about it! I get to travel with my job and think it's just a great opportunity for me!

I also help out Grant in his/our ministry as much as I can. I help lead a girls bible study for the youth with another amazing friend, Jessica.

Our latest addition:

Maksim Samuel Nixon was born September 1, 2010 at Baptist Women's Hospital after a C-section (I write about him ALL THE TIME on this blog!) and he really is SUCH a sweet, happy baby...and that makes for sweet, happy parents! We are still working on the whole "sleeping and scheduling thing" but overall, we are extremely lucky!!! He's growing like a wildflower and it makes me sad. I looked at his preemie clothes (he was 5 lbs 14 oz when he was born just a week early) this past week and I was shocked that he was that tiny! I hope I don't forget a thing!

Our families:

We have had our fair share of weddings, babies, engagements, new puppies, new life ventures, etc. between the Nixon and Morella households.

Amanda (Grant's sister) got married to Michael Brewer during the summer and they now live in Brandon, Mississippi in a new home and they just celebrated their first holidays as newly weds! They were gracious enough to host Thanksgiving this year at their humble abode! They have a crazy, sweet pup named Knox.

Drew Nixon (Grant's brother) is probably the #1 teacher in all of Chicago with his special ed classes (I am sure that term is incorrect, so I apologize). He is living the single, bus and train riding life in Chicago and we miss him here in the Dirty South. He never thought he would care much for babies, but Maks has him wrapped around his finger since he surprised us the night of Maks' birth by taking a bus all the way from Chicago (it might have been the next day...that day was all a blur for me!). Maks loves his Uncle Drew!!! Drew lives with roommates and his one-eyed dog, Maggie!

Kristina (my sis) got a new job this year along with her husband, Matt, also getting a new job. They both work at the same church, Hope Church, but the church is so huge, I don't know how much they actually see each other during the day! Both Grant and Matt are youth pastors and they can both marry people, ha! More on that later! They have a sweet dog, Colby, and will soon be adding a bear...ooops...dog, named Spiderman who will be born around January 27th. This is a he-man dog! And, we thought our Great Dane was massive. But, I hear the bigger they are, the sweeter they are!

Sabrina (my youngest sister) got engaged this year to David Groves and they are set to wed May 20th (Maks will be the ring bearer...what? What?!) at Carahills II out by our Arlington Church. It will be a family affair. Grant and Matt will be the "officiants/pastors". They will be marrying them! Sabrina and David have a dog named Abbey who is also sweet!

My parents, Diana and Alan, got a new addition to their household (Dad won't admit he likes this new addition, but I know, deep down...he does!) named Sophie. She's a Yorkie-Poo...I believe...or a mix between a Yorkie and a Maltese...either way, she's definitely a Yorkie! She's a ball of fun! Our family dog, Keisha, passed away this year. She was about 16 years old, I believe. Her best girlfriend, Kasi, is on her way...she's now blind and we think deaf...but she doesn't seem miserable yet. I like to think she likes Sophie! Mom and Dad's house is ALWAYS filled with extra dogs for some reason or another!

My in-laws/in-loves Nick and Debbie Nixon are great! Nick is officially still cancer free and he is better than ever! So is his heart! They have had a good amount of changes as well. Their baby daughter, Amanda, has officially moved into her own little family (same Amanda as above) and Nick is moving right along with his voice overs and caricatures while Debbie works at Crye-Leike.

Maks is the first grandson for the Morella's and Debbie! Maks is a wonderful addition to Nick's grandkids! Needless to say...Maks is QUITE spoiled!!!

So, I have probably skipped a million things, but most of them are summed up in my blog. Sometimes I go in spurts where I write a ton and then I don't, but I will try to work on that this year in 2011!

Here's to an awesome New Year for our new family of 3! We will keep you updated!!!

Love,

The Nixon's

Grant, Angela, and Maksim "Maks"

Contest: The 12 Days of Gingerbread Shoppe Christmas!

2010-11-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

Here's the deal fellow Bloggers, Facebook-ers, and Tweeters!

I am participating in a Christmas craft show called

The Gingerbread Shoppe on December 12th from 2:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

There are over 15 vendors participating and we are coming together

to give away one

GIGANTIC PRIZE for whoever helps spread the information about
The Gingerbread Shoppe!

The AMAZING PRIZE includes:
-A Scentsy Plug-In Warmer
-A Willow House set of 4 Tuscan Tumblers (value of $36!)
-A White Chocolate Peppermint Instant Manicure from BeautiControl
-A $30 gift certificate to Premier Designs!

*Winner will be chosen at random, but participants can play all day long for 12 straight days
(max. 24 times a day; one post per hour will count)!

Directions as follows:

The contest is starting on December 1st, you need to post the following
(has to be this exact):

Visit The Gingerbread Shoppe on December 12th, 2:00-8:00 p.m.!
http://angelanixon.blogspot.com/2010/11/gingerbread-shoppe_29.html

to your Facebook, Twitter and/or Blog and comment on THIS POST each time to let us know you are participating.
The comment on this post should look like this:

NAME, OUTLET, TIME.

Example: Angela Nixon, Facebook, Twitter, and my blog, 1:30 p.m.

Every time you post the above information and comment on
THIS BLOG POST

you will increase your chances of winning the gift basket (only one post per hour will count)!

You will have 12 days to do this:
From December 1st through December 12th
(contest ends at noon on the 12th).

We are calling this

"The 12 Days of Gingerbread Shoppe Christmas"!

The winner will be posted at the Gingerbread Shoppe!

So, on December 1st, get to it!!! If you have any questions, you can also post them to the comments below. If you have any trouble posting, please email me at angelanixon@mac.com

The Gingerbread Shoppe!

2010-11-29T14:29:00.001-08:00

Play our contest here:

http://angelanixon.blogspot.com/2010/11/contest-12-days-of-gingerbread-shoppe.html

Need those last minute gifts?

Haven't wrapped your presents?

Want to get a family or children's photograph with Santa for free?

Want to win a fabulous prize?

Then join us for a day of fun and frolicking! Over 12 vendors available to suite your fancies. Bring gifts from home to have wrapped (donations accepted) while you peruse the shoppe. Santa will be present from 2pm- 5pm, so bring your camera and take your photographs. Many vendors are making cash donations to JDRF and Belize, so stop by and see what specials are being offered. Men, Women, Teens and Children are all welcome!

Pre-purchase to have available for pick-up too!

How to get to The Gingerbread Shoppe: Directions from I-40, exit Canada Road, left on overpass, right at Waffle House (Huff and Puff Rd), left on Seed Tick, right on Gillespie Oak Drive. The clubhouse is conveniently located on your right. Parking and entry provided free of charge.

See below for the vendors and their special offers for the one day only shopping extravaganza!!!

*****************************************

Premier Designs Jewelry

(trendy, fashion jewelry)

angelanixon@mac.com

Book a home show at The Gingerbread Shoppe and receive $15 off your purchase

(Show day only)

Buy 3 items, get 4th item half off (lowest priced item)!

*********************************************************************

Mary Claire White

(tutus, headbands, soaps)

http://etsy.com/shop/maryc laire

********************************************

Willow House

(food, drinks, home decor, kitchen)

http://myjobsaparty.willowhouse.com/

myjobsaparty@gmail.com

Shelly Cheng Design Director; Willow House is a company that just began this year and features the well known Gail Pittman pottery, Mario Batali kitchenware and many known magazines. We offer the opportunity for one to learn how to decorate your home, set-up a buffet table, entertain with ease and so much more. Our product line has a little something for everyone. Whether you like to cook or not OR whether you like to party or not...we are here to help! Gorgeous home decor and quality kitchen tools will make your entertaining a breeze! Shop online and have everything delivered to you or a gift recipient. Weekly specials and an outlet just waiting for you!

Specials: Spend $40, get another item up to $40 for 1/2 price!

Donations: Purchase Roxy the Reindeer Ornament for $10.96 and $2 will be donated to JDRF (Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation)

*****************************************************

Thirty-One Gifts

(bags, purses, scarves, baskets and more)

http://www.mythirtyone.com/julibowen

imblessed2bme@gmail.com

*****************************************

Scentsy

http://kristinatubinis.sce ntsy.us/

Click “Pre-order for The Gingerbread Shoppe” tab

Kristina@hopepres.com

Come visit the Scentsy booth and enter to win a Gingerbread Full-Size Warmer!!!

********************************************

Cross Your Heart and Hope Designs

(antique windows, barnwood and canvas)

http://www.crossyourhearta ndhopedesigns.com/

nicumom@yahoo.com

************************************************************

Silpada Designs

(sterling silver jewelry)

Giving away a free pair of earrings to anyone that books a party in January.

Plus Silpada will be giving $100 in free jewelry in the

month of January to any qualified party!

***********************************************************************

What a Hoot!

(owl bags and purses)

imblessed2bme@gmail.com

**********************************************

BeautiControl

(bath & body, spa, cosmetics, facial treatments)

SPA and image company...

We carry anti-aging treatments, cosmetics, personalized skin care

and a unique line of spa quality body treatments!

*********************************************************

Creative Memories

(scrapbooking, cardmaking)

www.mycmsite.com/jeangaith er

gaithe_j@bellsouth.net

Jean Gaither is starting her 7th year as an Independent Consultant for Creative Memories. She offers great idea's to save your family's memories by offering traditional scrapbooks, digital books, preservation and organization for all those photos in boxes and bags all over your house. Just contact her and she can set aside a time to meet with you and address your photo needs. She will be at The Gingerbread Shoppe and would love to meet you!

********************************************

Swanky Aprons

(vintage style aprons)

http://www.swankyaprons.com/

jamie@swankyaprons.com

**********************************************************

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!

Oh, how life changes!

2010-11-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

I never would have thought this time last year that Grant and I would have Maksim this year! How amazing!!! I am excited for the holidays. I think I have bought Maks 6 Christmas outfits so far. Pics to come! Have I mentioned that I love being a mother.

Here's a picture of my happy baby!

This was when my sister, Kristina was baby sitting him and had him propped up on a pillow playing and watching tv.

Tomorrow Maks will be 12 weeks old!!! I can't believe how time has flown by! Grant tried him out in his Bumbo the other day...I don't think he knows if he likes it yet:

I have started putting him in his Bumbo and bringing him into the bathroom with me while I get ready. As long as I talk to him, he seems to be ok!

We are about to venture to Aunt Amanda and Uncle Michael's house this week for Thanksgiving. Funny how much changes with your packing list from when it was just Grant and I:

TONS of outfits! Including Christmas outfits

Shoes (pretty much for looks)

Socks

Diapers

Wipes

Pack 'N Play (for sleeping)

Play Gym

Bumbo

Bath (maybe, maybe not?)

Sling for Mom's ease

Stroller

Heavy Blankets for sleeping

Hats

Pack 'n play cover

Changing pads

....and I am sure I am forgetting something...just funny how life changes...I am thankful!

Questions?

2010-11-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

This is from Grant's sermon from his Saturday Night service. The sermon "series" is questions where people from our service text, email or send him questions and he researches them with the Bible and talks on that.

This was the first week of the series so he started by talking about the way to question God. He started by saying as kids we all asked "why, why, why???" all the time but as we grew up, it seems that most adults quit asking questions out of embarrassment that we should know things and so when it comes to being a follower of Jesus we all want to look like we have it all together and that we don't struggle and wrestle with doubt.

He said we are broken and messed up people and if we weren't then Christ died in vain. He used Galatians 2: 21 and Philippians 2:12-13 to support this:

"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose" -Galatians 2:21

It is a process: "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" Philippians 2:12-13

It's only by seeking knowledge that we gain it.

It is by thinking that we glorify God: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (emphasis mine)

Some of us think we can't question God or bother him with our questions and if we do then we are wrong. He is our father who is always there to answer our questions. To be honest with God, we must be honest when we doubt. Do we think God can't handle it? Job 38:44: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding"

When we bring our questions to God we must do it humbly. David's questions vs. Jobs. In Job 31:1-3 Job is questioning God's character, but in 1 Samuel 23, David is questioning his own understanding of God's command, but not his character.

David's correct way of questioning: Psalm 13:
He is honest (v. 1-2

He prays (v.3-4)

He trusts God's Word (v.5)

He worships God and remembers God's grace (v.6)

I encourage you to sit down with these verses as I am going to do for a few days.

On another note, I am involved in a vendor show/craft show where I will have a booth for my Premier Designs jewelry! Here is the information. Check back on my blog for a way to win some AMAZING giveaways!!! Santa will be here!!! (Bring your camera for free pictures!...donations accepted to raise money for missions) and they will be wrapping presents there as well (also, donations accepted). I am sooo super excited about this! See here (click on the image to see larger):

The Kindness of a Stranger

2010-11-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a doozie of a day! Who says "doozie" anymore? But, it did make you smile, right? Ha!

My day started out with a flat tire! UUGH!

I was on my way to work and stopped at Walgreens to pick up the latest edition of Weight Watchers magazine because I had thumbed through it at a doctors office and saw some AMAZING recipes! BTW, Weight Watchers and Domino are/were my favorite magazines. Domino was an interior design magazine that stopped printing. Bummer. They do have a book out though (I have talked about it before on my blog...btw, still don't have it...Christmas present for me, anyone? HINT, HINT):

Back to my day...man! I get sidetracked easily!!! So, I pulled into Walgreens and got the magazine and pulled out and I feel my tire was flat. My Dad was JUST telling me to check my tires! He really does know what he's talking about. He always used to say: "One day you are going to grow up and understand" and I have! Some things are still yet to be understood, but maybe they will come to me!

On Thursdays, Grant is off of work and it's his day to watch Maks so I called him and he was going to have to pack up Maks (he was in a deep sleep and as soon as he was ready to wake up, it was going to be his eating time...so all that to say...not good timing to get Maks out), fix a bottle incase he screamed, and head over to change my tire...and it was cold yesterday. So, I started to clean out my trunk and get the flat out and as I got the flat out a REALLY nice older man (50's, maybe?) decided to help me. I told him my husband had the baby today and was packing him up to come help and he told me to call my husband and tell him to keep the baby inside and out of the nasty weather! Sooo nice!!! And, since I was just standing around looking dumb, he told me to not stand in the cold and sit in the car. It just takes someone that nice to make a crummy thing much better!

I think I may have mentioned this in the last post...maybe not...but Grant and I are going to try memorizing Romans 5. We are working on verses 1 and 2 now.

Peace with God Through Faith

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in thatwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The heading for this section in my version is "right with God" and as I was reading it, it kind of renewed in me a thankfulness for what Jesus did for us. It says we have peace with God through Jesus and through him we have access by faith to God. Verse 6 says "When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God". "At the right time" stood out to me. Everything is planned and orchestrated by God in his timing.

Verse 7 says that very few people will die for someone else (I am paraphrasing big time) but the way that God showed how much he loved us was by giving up his son to die! That's shocking because now, if someone asked me to give up Maksim to save someone else...I honestly don't think I could. It just shows how amazing God is. This parent thing puts a lot of other areas of my life in perspective as well.

And, last but not least, my friend, Candace, and I are going through "Believing God" by Beth Moore and here are a few highlights from the second chapter...this should wet your appetite for wanting to read the book:

Why isn't our present practice of Christianity working, and why don't we see more of God's promises fulfilled?

You and I can be safely tucked in the family of God and have full assurance of heavenly inheritance without ever occupying the land of God's fulfilled promises on earth. We can completely miss our earthly destinies, and our carcasses, too, can fall in the wilderness.

So basically, we would be Christians just getting by...I don't want to do that! I want to make it to my Canaan on the way!

The reason most of our present belief systems aren't working is because they are big on systems and small on belief.

Satan cannot touch God, so he does everything he can to get to His heart by getting to His children. "For whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye" Zech. 2:8

Having believed in Christ, we've been called to continue believing all He came to do and say!!!

Nothing on earth compares to the strength God is willing to interject into lives caught in the act of believing.

Oh, Beth...you've struck a cord again!!! :)

John Piper & Scripture Memorization - Sermon Jam

2010-11-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

T-Minus 10 Days!

2010-11-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

T-Minus 10 Days until Thanksgiving! I love the holidays! I love what they mean as a family and I love what the next day means...Time to put up Christmas decorations and a TREE!!! And, I just couldn't wait any longer to update my blog...plus, I have been having complaints that the last blog was hard to read color wise.

We had a little pre-Thanksgiving fun at our 2nd (maybe 3rd) Annual Bible Study Thanksgiving! Here's a picture of our spread! Wonderful!!! Mike fried a turkey (well, two actually) and I must have forgot how good it was the year before because it was sooo yummy! We had plenty of desserts and the traditional stuffing, corn casserole, Sister Shubert rolls...yum!

And, I am so excited about this next picture! Since the kids in our group are beginning to out number the adults (ok...might be exaggerating a LITTLE here) we have to start thinking of ideas to keep the kids entertained so both The Eptings and us had brought our kids play gym's and we thought it would be cute to let them "play" together under one! It was so cute seeing both play gym's set up...Izzy's is all girly and pink and Maks' is blue and green like a sweet boy! Anyways...enough making you wait...here it is and please notice that they have their arms interlocked...It wasn't on purpose, obviously, but still... So CUTE! Maks' onesie says "Give Peas a Chance" and the pea is throwing up a peace sign...too cute, right?

Maks and I managed to get a picture together but Grant, Maks and I haven't all had a picture together since he was born! I hope to have Jolaura take our Christmas card pictures sooner than later so hopefully we will have some good family portraits to show!

Lately, I think the Lord knew I needed some encouragement to read his Word more and stop making him so low on my totem pole. Grant challenged me with starting to memorize Romans chapter 5, so we are starting today with verses 1 and 2:

We had a bible study with a group in Tipton County last night and I am reviewing the notes today. Grant said this and it stuck with me: "We are people who have been forgiven and we are people who need to learn to forgive". Our bible study last night ended up being all women and Grant teaching and Grant was talking about forgiveness and how everyone says "forgive and forget" but how we never truly "forget". But, he read another definition for the word forget that meant "Treat with thoughtless inattention or neglect". So when we say forgive and forget, we need to think of this definition because it's honestly impossible to "forget". Some of the ladies talked about their hurt and how it's hard to forgive. It was encouraging to talk about all of that and get a reminder that you are not alone.

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" Ephesians 4:32

Grant also talked about how one thing our pediatrician told us which has stuck with him and can be applied to our walks with Christ was this: Take it one day at a time.

With our Christian walks we need to take it one day at a time like Jesus said to take up your cross daily...take it day by day.

Thankful Thursdays!

2010-11-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

It just seems to be the perfect time of the year to be thankful ...although it shouldn't be the ONLY time of the year, by no means!

Today I am thankful for many things:

My wonderful husband, GREAT father and preacher, Grant!

My sweet baby! We really are so blessed! He pretty much only cries when he is hungry, sleepy, or wet. I hope we get this lucky with all of the rest! But, I would still be obsessed if he wasn't such a sweet one, too...how can you resist this face?

My new business venture, Premier Designs! Who doesn't need a little extra cash and this is an exciting business to be a part of! I had a hostess receive over $500 in absolutely FREE jewelry this week! Crazy how good the benefits are for hosts AND jewelers! As a jeweler you earn 50% of all of the profits. I am really excited to be selling this fashionable, trendy, and fun jewelry!!!

Family. I guess with having a baby, my love and respect for my families has tripled! And, you should see everyone with Maks...they are like mush! Here are a few pics of the grandma's! Funny how much Maksim has changed and grown just since these pictures!

Friends. Restored Friendships. Deeper connections. New friends. All of the above. We are extremely blessed to have a bible study group who has been meeting for about 2 years now (maybe more) and also have the advantage of having several different friend groups from church as well! Our bible study group is actually having our annual Thanksgiving party a few weeks early! Can't wait for some fried turkey! Here's a picture of the spread from last year! Makes my mouth water!

Weight Watchers. You will all think I am crazy, but I do enjoy Weight Watchers! My goal was to have the baby weight gone by Thanksgiving...so I technically have a few more days...13 to be exact, so we shall see. Not looking good, but I am making progress...my extremely last deadline to have the weight gone is Christmas. Good news is I am back to my "fat" pre weight baby...just not back to what I was right before baby when I was doing WW. The reason I like Weight Watchers is because I can eat what I want and just have portion control. I know there are critics out there who say it's not healthy and all of that, but I have found a diet that works for me, so I am going to stick with it until it quits working. AND, I hate vegetables (except the bad ones like potatoes and corn) so that limits my ability to "diet". I have tried to tough it up but it doesn't really work. AND, with the spread above, you will be glad to know that I can count two things on that table now that ARE Weight Watcher approved. Last year I had a WW buddy...this year I am on my own, so it seems!

Work. In an economy where jobs aren't stable, I am glad that I have a job that I truly do enjoy. www.campelectric.com

Christ Church-our church. I am thankful for a church that is moving in the right direction...not flawlessly, but moving all together. I am thankful for my husband being on staff and really desiring movement and direction in the church. I respect that and appreciate it as a member of the congregation.

Baby Mobiles. See two posts before this. Maksim has just started to realize mobiles and LOVES them. I tried one morning laying him in his pack and play so I could brush my teeth...comb my hair...look presentable and I found him laying there laughing and kicking his feet! So sweet! Here is a picture:

My relationship with Christ. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can serve my God and have the opportunity to live out my faith.

Today is Veteran's Day and I am abundantly thankful. No words can express the gratitude for all that has been done and sacrificed.

50 FREE Christmas Cards!!!

2010-11-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

This is what happens...I remember I have a blog and then here you go...two posts in one night!

I saw my friend, Lauren Butler, had a blog post with the word "FREE" in it and you know I had to check it out! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly...sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

What I found on her blog was that if you write a blog about Shutterfly.com and their new Christmas cards, you receive 50 FREE CHRISTMAS CARDS of your choice. So, please visit their website to see these awesome choices! Click above or here to see the designs.

There are a few links I recommend visiting on their website for different options:

Holiday Cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

Photo Christmas Cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

Wall Calendars: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

New Years Cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards

By the way, what I did was I sorted them by price and found some really reasonable ones for $0.33-$0.55 each...of course you could do the more expensive ones as well! You could probably sit at your computer for hours trying to decide on which card format you want to use! So many choices!!!

I have not used Shutterfly in the past, but I definitely will this year. I love their designs because they aren't the typical designs and I love the fact that there are so many colors incorporated into the designs! These cards make me happy! For me, Christmas time is a chance to send out your card to the family members or friends that you may not have had a chance to catch up with during the year so you want to make the best of it!

Here are some of my favorites. I have a million so it will be super hard to narrow them down (I am beginning to see by my choices that I like brown and red!!! And, sometimes I wonder if I like the card itself or the adorable picture/s)....ENJOY!!!:

All about Maks!

2010-11-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

I am a horrible blogger...very inconsistent! But, I do have a good excuse.

After a hiatus of a little over 2 months, 9 days, I am back and excited to be blogging again!

2 months and 9 days is the age of my sweet son, Maksim!!! I honestly can't believe how much he has grown up since he was first born! This Mom thing has really changed my life! I am in love and it's increased my love for my husband, too...which I didn't think was possible. It's cool to see God through this child...what a miracle birth is. Tissue, please.

Here are a few pictures and you will see why my attention has been taken off of blogging onto this baby!

Here is a picture of him on his play mat... he will just lay there and squeal and laugh looking at the mobiles, ceiling fans, and lights! He's a bright baby!

Here is a picture of Maks in his Baby Bjorn and Grant at a Mercy Me and Phil Wickham concert! Maks was so great during the concert! And, Grant is an AMAZING Dad! Truly! I could not be more blessed! I am very thankful that Maks doesn't mind loud noises considering a lot of our time is spent at church listening to the band or around loud (but EXTREMELY fun) youth students! Maksim seems to love the busyness of our lives...he fits right in!

And, last but not least, I love Maksim just chillin' on his Daddy's legs at church this past week! I found this sweater for sale at Target and just had to get it!

Someone asked me yesterday about my hospital experience for when I gave birth and it made me want to make sure I documented it (mainly so I wouldn't forget a thing!) And, I wish I had someone to tell me all of the details so I would be prepared. I am not going to say anything gross though.

Ok, the day Maks was born at Baptist Women's Hospital. Here we go. Skip this if it doesn't interest you...

Well, rewind two days... I went in that Monday before for my 39 week check up and everything was ok in the office but the doctor called me later that day and said some levels in my body were up and he was nervous that if we didn't go ahead and induce then I would have preclampsia and be sick by that time the next week which was my due date when I was scheduled to be induced. I have told my doctor since day one that he is the doctor and I completely trust him. He had told me before that they never induce before the due date unless there is a medical reason to do so, so that made me comfortable that he wasn't just doing this out of convenience or anything like that. So, he scheduled me for that following Wednesday, September 1st. That happened to be the day he was in labor and delivery, too. He knew that I wanted him to deliver Maks if at all possible. I go to Ruch Clinic and they have several different doctors and you are not guaranteed that the doctor that you see every week will be the one to deliver. It's who ever is on call. Some people see multiple doctors at the clinic, but I saw Kennedy from the beginning and really liked him. He was straightforward with me (which my detail oriented self LOVED) and he was laid back (like I LIKE to think I am). I saw another doctor twice on days when I had to go in for unexpected things and I liked the other doctor too, but still preferred Kennedy. That's my little tangent on how much I liked Ruch Clinic.

We got to the hospital about 5 a.m. if I remember correctly. They sent just me back to ask me some questions and get my IV put in. It wasn't until about 7:00 that they let Grant back. I didn't understand why it took so long to let him back. I started out with these two nurses but a shift change was about to happen so I only had them for maybe 2 hours at the most. I liked them. The main nurse asked me where I worked and I told her Camp Electric and she proceeded to tell me how much she loves K-Love. They aren't connected but we advertise on K-Love. The other nurse seemed like she was a beginner. She was about my age, maybe younger and one of my fears came true that morning when she was trying to get the IV in and couldn't do it. The other nurse had to come poke me for like the 3rd time. Oh well. It wasn't too horrible.

Then I got my new nurse who I LOVED! She was great! They started me on the pitocin at probably about 8ish and then my doctor, Dr. Kennedy (GREAT Doctor!), came in and broke my water...a little bit of a yucky thing then but not too bad. Kind of like pouring hot tea in your lap. Ha! Probably about 9:00, I got my epidural. I was more scared in anticipation for the epidural than the actual epidural. I cried before but it was because I was nervous. I heard that pain was HORRIBLE. But, honest, it was not that bad at all. It felt kind of like a bee sting. Then it was over.

Besides the after effects of my C-section, the pain beforehand was very minimal. I really didn't have strong contractions and I never had to do a vaginal delivery...so if you look at it that way, I was pretty blessed with a very pain free PRE-delivery. Not so much POST delivery though because of the C-section.

The next part was kind of scary. My monitor kinda started going crazy and the nurse came to check on it and got kind of worried and buzzed for help. The baby's heart rate was going from the 60's to 150's and jumping back and forth. As she was waiting on the other nurses, she gave me my catheter (usually she likes to wait longer after the epidural, but she was worried they would immediately need to take me to surgery...I didn't feel anything). So, 2 other nurses hurry in there and they have me roll to my left side and right side ...back and forth. Remember, I now have my epidural so I am having to pull myself using my upper body. They put me on oxygen and paged my doctor (kind of frantic). That is when Grant said he got nervous. So, as they are rolling me from side to side to try to get the baby's heart rate down, I ask them "Should I be nervous?" and one of the nurses (not mine) says very adamantly "YES". So, that was not very helpful...I mean...I appreciated the honestly, but at the same time, I am obviously distressed here. My nurse tried to cover up her blatant disregard for my feelings and ATTEMPTED to make me feel better. Then they told me to take off any jewelry because they might have to roll me back for a C-section right then.

Long-ish story short, they got the baby's heart rate down when they turned off the pitocin. My doctor came in shortly afterwards and checked a few things, put a heart monitor on the inside (maybe on the baby...not sure) and said that, for now, I was good but he wanted to wait for a while to turn the pitocin back on to see if I progressed.

So, probably about 11:00 a.m. they tried turning the pitocin back on (for those of you who don't know what pitocin is...I wouldn't have before this...it's what kind of forces your body into labor). After they turned the pitocin back on, Maksim's heart rate spiked again so they decided to keep me off of the pitocin for good.

Well, turning off the pitocin made me not progress at all for four hours...I went in at between 1-2 cm dilated and I was stuck then at 4 cm dilated. It was at that point that they decided to give me a C-section. I honestly did not want a C-section at ALL and I had made that clear to Dr. Kennedy that the only reason I would want a C-section is if the baby was in danger and so I trusted him when he made the call. The reasoning for giving me a C-section were two: 1. Failure to Progress and 2. Fetal Distress....so Maks was in distress. So, when he made the final call, I think Grant was relieved that in less than an hour we would be holding our baby, but I was scared out of my mind.

But, they wheeled me back to surgery...made Grant go in another room for a bit and when they wheeled me back there I got nervous even more...I was still crying at this point but luckily a lady from our church, Kerry Griggs, was there with me the whole time and so was my favorite nurse (who's name I forgot).

Sidebar...my favorite nurse was actually not going to go with me into surgery. Guess who was? The "YES" lady! I made a face when she told me that lady was coming and a few minutes later she came over to me in private and asked me if I was uncomfortable with the "YES" nurse and I told her yes. Earlier that day, the "YES" nurse had been rude to my family and friends when we were one person over the limit in my room. That one person was Hudson, a 1 year old! Come on! So, after I told my favorite nurse that I was uncomfortable with the "YES" nurse, my favorite nurse made plans to come to surgery as soon as she could. She had another patient that required her attention as well at the same time. But, she really did bend over backwards to be there for me. I have GOT to remember her name!

ANYWAYS, going into the surgery room was intimidating because it's stark white with all of those big lights. I was relieved when they let Grant come back. So, because of the epidural, obviously I was numb, but I could feel them tugging hard (well, it felt hard to me). One of the anesthesiologists told Grant that if he wanted to see, he would tell him when he could stand up and he did and Grant was amazed! We video taped it ..see below...just kidding. But, we did video tape it and it was pretty cool! I didn't hear him cry when he first came out but Grant says he did. Maksim automatically peed first thing and it made Dr. Kennedy chuckle!

They weighed him in at 5 pounds 14 oz! I was shocked because I was told he would be around 7! One of the nurses looked at Maks when he was born and actually said "OH, there's no way he was going to make it down the birth canal"...so that reassured me that we did the right thing with the C-section. I guess more of my stomach was my fat than it was Maks! I definitely have a more healthy plan for eating with the next one...you don't want to know what I gained. It was just me having an excuse to not really watch how much I ate...I still at "healthy" I thought, but portion control pretty much went out the window.

Well, we were stuck back in recovery until almost 7:00 p.m. which was ridiculous! Maks was born right around 4:00 p.m. Our nurse in recovery had just switched over to a new computer system and was taking her sweet time. That was annoying. But, so we FINALLY got to see our friends and family... there were a TON of them when they took us off of the elevator and back to our room! It was great! If you known Grant and I, you know we are people persons and we loved that we had that many people to greet us!

So, that's that! We were in the hospital from Wednesday to Saturday...and did I mention that Grant was the sickest he had been in a while...bad timing! Breastfeeding went GREAT! If you know me, you know I was bound and determined to try to breastfeed and it's been a success! Still going on that. We will see how long I can make it, but my goal is 6 months. If I can go that long then I will set a new goal. I AM back at work now, so that makes it more difficult considering I have to pump now, but it's doable. Someone told me that it is the least selfish thing I could do and the most beneficial for my baby! So I am going to keep pressing on for Maks!

OOOH, and since I said I would be straightforward...the C-section did not hurt the day of because I was on meds, but the following 3 days were not fun at all. I don't know if I was not told or what, but I just assumed after a major surgery that the hospital staff would just automatically give you pain medications to keep you comfortable...but no, you have to ask for them...so for some reason, I thought "the longer I wait, the better"...umm...no.... get that pain medication every 4 hours (or as soon as you can). There is no shame in that. I don't know why I thought I had to be tough. BUT, I still don't understand why they don't give it to you automatically...at least for the first day after surgery!

The day after my C-section (I think it had to be 12 hours after), the nurse took out the catheter and that part didn't actually hurt, it was the fact that I had to go to the restroom after that and literally couldn't for an hour... that was pretty painful. So, I did walk like an old lady with a bad back for a few days because that's all I could do.

But, our friends and family were ...and still are!...AMAZING! And, Maks is SUCH A GOOD BABY! We got lucky with this one! My overall experience at Baptist Women's Hospital was a great one (besides the "YES" nurse).

Ok, I think this long post makes up for all of the time I have spent away.

Til next time!

Maksim's Room Completed!!!

2010-08-30T09:08:00.001-07:00

FINALLY, I have the final product ready to share with the blogging world :) It's been a long time coming...about 7 1/2 ish months and Grant and I worked hard on it! I wanted something modern and not typical and yet still fun! I think he will be able to grow up in this room too (at least for a few years) and I still got to stick my designer knowledge in there too!

Here's the rundown of the room:

1. I started by picking out the fabric...the black fabric with elephants, birds, giraffes and other zoo animals. I originally wanted a fabric with owls on it, but it was way too expensive and I am so much more excited about this one! The fabric is from Fat Quarter Shop and it is a Michael Miller fabric. I chose two of his fabrics...one as the main fabric and one with dots in different colors to coordinate. I had my friend, Hannah, ask me if the fabric I bought just happened to be Michael Miller (even before she saw it or I described it to her) because she thought that looked like me! My friends know me so well!

2. I handed off the fabric to my seamstress, Jenny Beth Rodden, of The Preppie Peonie who did an excellent job of making the draperies and bedding for Maksim's room! She's taking orders now!!! (The above picture with the black blobs are my sweet cat, Jack Bauer, and my handful, but sweet Puggle, Reilly.)

3. I debated on the wall color for a while. I didn't want to do the typical blue for a boys room (not that that is a bad thing....I just wanted Maks' room to be different and outside of the box). I visited one of our close friends, The Metcalf's, house to see their BEAUTIFUL baby's room, Eleanor or Ellie, and right next to the baby room was their upstairs bathroom done in yellow stripes! I don't remember if it was wallpaper or paint, but I loved it! So....then started the long, grueling process of painting stripes. If you get up really close to the stripes in Maks' room then you can see pencil markings, but I am ok with that. If someone has an idea on how to remove those, I am all ears!

4. After that I started working on wall decorations! I got a text from a good friend, Laura, one day who had seen my fabric and was in Hobby Lobby one day and saw these wall pieces that were black, big, and zoo animals! So, I put those on my list of "must-haves" and waited for them to go on sale to 50% off. Because they were 50% off, they did have a few bumps and bruises on them, but nothing that spray paint couldn't fix! (See picture below...we are still working on the dresser, but you get the idea).

5. I don't remember exactly when we stumbled upon this website, but Grant and I were keeping our eyes open for Maksim's room as well as for some decorations for our Arlington youth room at Christ Church and one day Grant sent me this website, Dali Decals, where he had found an awesome tree, gorilla, birds, squares and some other decals for our youth room. Little did he know that I had stumbled upon the same website as well! I was already getting ideas galore for the room! Grant purchased and applied the decals at the church and they turned out GREAT!

The idea to use a tree decal in Maksim's room came from my above friend mentioned, Hannah. She has a daughter named Ivy who has a white tree (I believe) in her room.

A quick note on Dali Decals, they have been beyond AMAZING to work with. I was hired on to design two large areas at Hope Church here in Cordova, Tennessee and Dali Decals did several custom decals for us along with some decals that are on their website for the two areas I worked on. They were extremely helpful and wanted to make sure we were 100% satisfied...and we were! Another blog on Hope Church's designs will come soon!

So, all of the decals in Maks' room are from Dali Decals. The green tree, the birds, the owls, and the elephants. I can't speak enough good about the company!

6. The furniture is from the ole faithful Target! The brand is Delta and the crib is one that you can "transform" into a big boy bed when the time arises! I hear time flies with the babies! We did have a little trouble with the dresser, but the company made it right (after about 3 months)...it was Delta's issue, not Target's.

7. And, luckily, my parents bought Grant and I the glider for our anniversary back in March! So nice!!! And, the little baby rocker is from an Amish community in Ohio that Mom picked up for me on a trip to see family back a few months ago! Also, if you see that white thing that looks like a coaster on the side table...that is a handprint of Grant's from when he was around 5 years old. We hope to do one of Maksim, too and put them side by side....a little sentiment there :) So that it doesn't get mistaken as a coaster, I will probably buy a small stand to prop it up.

8. The letters for Maksim's name were from an idea I stole from our friend, Laura, who just had a baby, Isabella! I believe her sister made the letters, so I wabbled down to Hobby Lobby and found these white, wooden letter cut outs (which would have been pretty on their own) and I bought scrapbooking paper to go with our "zoo" theme and spray painted the letters and placed the scrapbook paper on top of the letters and used a small box cutter (an exacto knife would have worked better, but I couldn't find my floral printed one) and just cut away the excess paper. I was pretty proud of the end result! One of the letters was trial and error because I rushed it, but I fixed it...no biggie! We won't say that the reason for the lettering was because I placed the elephants in the wrong spot on the wall. OOPS!

9. And, last but not least, the rug is from Walmart. Not exactly what I was looking for, but I am pleased with the overall look.

All of this was done on a budget. Don't believe me...ask :) I am PRETTY proud! I know that a lot of people say that for the first child you go all out and then you don't want to do the same for the second...but I think I still will....especially with my degree being in interior design! I just love it! And, Grant is pretty good at the designing, too...must come from his artist background!

NOW, all we need is Maksim!!!!

Updates Galore! The Countdown Begins!!!

2010-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 38 week appointment with the doctor and things are looking good! Maksim has dropped (Stage 2 now...he said I was a Stage 3 last week and now I am a Stage 2...I guess all that's left is a Stage 1...whatever all that means, ha!), 80% effaced and about 1 cm dilated. Sorry if any guys are reading this and it weirds you out. I never thought I would talk in terms of weeks, effacement, dilation, stages, etc! But, here I am!!!

I asked the doctor whether he thought Maks would come early and he was very general in his speaking (I guess they are so scared of getting lawsuits that they can't speak freely) saying that he could be in our arms before next week or he could wait until his due date to grace us with his presence! I told him the only thing I am nervous about is that I won't know I am having contractions...or I will mistaken them for little pains...Doctor said I will for sure know. We live about 45 minutes from the hospital so that makes me slightly nervous, but from what I hear, the first one is the longest labor wise.

So, the news for now is that if Maksim doesn't get here before September 8th, then we will head into the hospital to be induced. I told my doctor my fear of being induced too early and he definitely made me feel better about it and said that he just didn't want me going past my due date. He said they like for the babies to weight between 6 and 7 pounds because anything bigger than 8 makes the delivery a little more challenging for the baby to maneuver down the birth canal. I am trying to be as nice with my words to not make anyone feel uncomfortable, here...bear with me!

The countdown for today is 15 days until my due date!!!

Grant and I spent the later part of yesterday visiting new babies! We visited two brand new baby girls from two girls/MOMS (!!!) that I have went through the pregnancy process with at the same time! Here are the beautiful baby girls!!! Maksim has some pretty cute girlfriend options to choose from :)

Isabella Ann Epting

(This is the "Tucker" that I wrote about two posts before)

Parents: Mike and Laura Epting

Laura was 2 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy.

Addyson Ann Butler

Parents: Rhett and Lauren Butler

Big Brother: Reese

Lauren was 8 days ahead of me in her pregnancy.

So, life is pretty much about babies at this point :) Fun! Fun!!!

Here is a little update to our work in Maksim's baby room! We stole this idea from the Epting's where you buy wooden letters and spray glue scrapbook paper to the block letters and then I used an box cutting knife (very small one) to cut the extra paper off of the wooden block letters and the final result were these cool designs! I made a little boo boo with some decals in Maks' room (you will see the final product later with the fix made with these block letters below the elephant decals) so we had to improvise and come up with a cool way to make it not look horrible :)

Here are the block letters that spell out "Maksim" (I used a camera on my Evo phone called "Retro Camera" and it gave these polaroid looking shots) and a picture of our changing table with some new baskets added (boring stuff to some, I would assume!)

On another note...

Today in my quiet time I read about "The Evil Personality". The scripture was from Revelation 2:12-13. Basically it just talked about how Satan runs rampant on this planet as John confirmed it in one of his letters: "The whole world is under the control of the evil one" (John 5:19). It says that we don't engage in a philosophy of evil; we fight against evil personalities...so Satan and his demons are very real! I liked the wording I read today where it said: "Forsake all thought of evil simply as a force in this world. Never depersonalize it. Recognize that there is a relentless, malicious intelligence behind all the pain you see....and when all hell breaks loose against you, rely completely on Him."

I think that I needed to hear that this week. Not that "all hell" has broken loose against me or Grant but we have faced a few challenges but through it all we are confident in our Lord and his ability to take care of us. If you have ever seen any of my old posts, we have several situations where things seemed impossible to see past but the Lord has NEVER, NEVER let us down. It's pretty awesome if you look at things from an eternal perspective. Looking at things and situations from a worldly perspective will always leave you broken down and discouraged.

'Til next time!!! I am trying to do better with my posts :)

About My Pregnancy

2010-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Thought this would be cute to do...

Your name? Angela Nixon

Fathers name? Grant Nixon

Were you trying to get pregnant? YUP!

When did you find out? I believe New Year's Eve Eve. We had always said we wanted to "get pregnant in 2009 and have the baby in 2010" and I think this was God's funny way of laughing at us and keeping us guessing until the last day of 2009!

Were did you find out? Blake and Allison Butler's house in their master bathroom...used all the pregnancy tests she had and went to Walgreens to buy some more expensive ones because my responses weren't 100% clear. Funny story...I went to the Dr. the next day and took 2 tests and they were negative and they told me I wasn't pregnant so I got 3 more very clear "PREGNANT"/ "NOT PREGNANT" tests and they were all "PREGNANT". Needless to say, I switched doctors immediately :)

How far along were you? 4 weeks-ish

What was your reaction? SOOOO excited and wondering if the tests were really accurate! Too hesitant of the tests to believe I was REALLY pregnant because some tests came out YES and some came out NO

Who was the first person you told? Grant then Allison and Blake

How did you tell the father? He was there

What was his reaction? So excited!!! We were kind of in disbelief...it was the first month that we actually tried and we got pregnant. I had been off birth control for about 3 months before that though, but we were kind of "family planning" it up to try to not get pregnant until the month when we were trying...and it all worked.

When is your due date? September 11th at first and then September 8th and that date has been pretty steady

Did you have any morning sickness? Nope. I was extremely lucky. Well, I take that back...I did get sick maybe 2x but I think it's because I took my prenatal vitamins at the wrong times

What are your fears? Delivery and that I don't know something that I am suppose to know or I didn't bring something I was "suppose" to bring to the hospital

What are you most happy about? Maksim getting here! The nursery! Having a baby!

Did you want a boy or girl? It didn't matter to me

What did the father want boy or girl? Boy :)

Do you know what your having? BOY!

Do you have a name picked out? Yep! Maksim "Maks" Samuel Nixon. See earlier blog posts on the reasons behind the names

How much weight have you gained? HHHAAA! Definitely not saying...let's just hope there are like 3 babies in there so the weight would make sense :)

Have you felt the baby move? YUP!

Do you plan on a natural or medicated birth? Epideral but nothing over the top medicine wise...I want to REMEMBER seeing my baby for the first time!

Are you scared about labor? YEP!

What do you think will be the worst part of labor? Getting the epideral and the contractions beforehand. I am nervous I won't know what the contractions feel like and I will barely make it to the hospital in time.

Have you taken any classes? Nope

Who will be in the delivery room? Just me and Grant (and the medical staff, of course...hopefully!)

Are you having the birth videotaped? Nope unless Grant and I set up our phones or something but we won't be videotaping anything further down stairs than my belly :)

Do you think you will cry when you see the baby for the first time? I am sure I will!

What do you think the fathers reaction to the baby will be? He just might cry too!

How do you think family and friends will feel? Ecstatic!!!

Busy, Busy Couple of Months

2010-08-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I may or may not be able to get back to a "normal" blogging schedule, but I do miss it! This may be a long one, but the blogging world may need to be filled in a good bit!

It said the last time I posted was back in June! Wow! A lot has happened since then! Basically the months of May through now are pretty crazy busy with my job, Camp Electric. We haven't exactly slowed down so that's GREAT but the busier part of the job is behind us for now. Camp Electric went AWESOME! We had a great two weeks! We had bands such as TobyMac, Family Force 5, Salvador (my fav!), Cloverton (the band that won Camp Electric's "Rock the Camp" contest...amazing! You will be hearing of them soon!) and a ton more! It was a great few weeks!

Yesterday we had some pretty exciting news from our friends, Mike and Laura Epting! Laura has been exactly 2 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and I got a call Monday night saying Laura was headed into the hospital having contractions about 3 minutes apart (WOW!) and got updates throughout the night that Tucker James Epting would be here in the morning! So, around 8:30 a.m. we got a text saying Laura was pushing and then from there we didn't hear anything until about 9:30 a.m. with a very simple text saying "Baby was born 8 lbs, 12 oz! Mom and baby are doing great!" and that's was it. So, I get a text from Momma Laura saying to call her. I was thinking that she was gonna fill me in on the delivery since the night before I told her to "remember everything so I will know what's coming". Well, as we are talking, Laura says "WELLL, we have a surprise!" and here I am thinking they had twins but instead, Tucker James Epting turned out to be an Isabella Ann Epting! It's a GIRL, not a boy like we all thought! From what I understand, the three ultrasounds they had were not 100%-for two of them the baby's legs were crossed and for the one they found out the sex it was a picture from behind, so it was just a mistake. The Dr said that it looked like she owed them a few girl outfits! Here's a picture of me and Isabella!

Since June, I have grown quite a bit in my pregnancy...I am now 37 weeks along and the doctor said this is considered full term so he could be here at any point! We are getting excited but I also realize how much I truly have to do. We got the bulk of Maksim's room done. SOMEONE (ok, me!) had the bright idea to paint stripes in Maks' room (never again...well, unless we pay someone!) will I want stripes. I love the final product but this has been a few months in the making. I am sure this is all common sense, but you have to paint the base coat and then we waited a while and then measured out the lines and then Grant and his Dad drew the lines, and my Dad and Grant's Dad taped off the lines and then the painting came! It sounds easy, but it's definitely not! Here are a few "sneak previews":

More pictures will come soon! We have a few decals to put on the walls (a 5 1/2 foot tree and a family of elephants!) and a few really cute wall pieces that I am excited to add, so as soon as we have the finished product, I will devote a whole blog post to the room! This baby is pretty much spoiled and he's not even here yet! That blob of black on the carpet is our cat, Jack! We heard/read somewhere that in order to keep your cats out/off of the baby furniture that you need to put aluminum foil in the pieces so we put foil in the carseat and pack n play that Grant assembled last night! Looks funny but hopefully it will keep the cats from intruding in our baby's stuff. I think the animals are wondering what is going on, but they will be fine!

And, a few final pics of me pre-baby! My AMAZING husband surprised me and my sister, Kristina, with tickets to see SUGARLAND at the Snowden Grove Amphitheater last Friday! I have a few top bands that I love and Sugarland is one of those!!! Here we go for all of you that need my list, ha!

1. Lady Antebellum

2. Sugarland

3. Carrie Underwood

And, poor Grant pretty much HATES country music and I am pretty much their biggest fan! He's a great sport though! He had originally planned on going with me to Sugarland and then realized we had a youth event planned that night so he got Kristina to come with me. It was an AMAZING concert! Blazing hot, but amazing! Here are a few snapshots:

Until next time! It won't be as long, promise! Hopefully I will try to update every day or every other day...unless Maksim graces us with his presence earlier than 40 weeks!

A Million Reason's Why

2010-06-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

It seems like I took a month or more hiatus from blogging! But, I guess summer is the busiest time of the year for The Nixon's. I thought I would give you an update on our lives before time got away from me again!

It's wedding season! With wedding season come showers galore!
I have been on 2 trips to the beach in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Once to Destin where Grant was the speaker for a Senior's retreat and the other time was for Amanda's Bachelorette Weekend in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach!
This is the busiest time of the year for my job, Camp Electric! Our camp weeks are July 11-15 and then July 18-22 so we will pack up and move to Nashville (where the camp is held) for that time...so I will probably be absent from the blogging world AGAIN at that time. But, you are forgiving people, right?!
I threw two wedding showers on back to back weekends. My sister-in-law (in above picture at the beach) is getting married in 13 days! AHHH! And, one of my best friends, Grace, is getting married two days after Camp Electric ends! The picture of Grant and I is at the "Western Themed" Shower for Grace and Mark at our house!
I am now 26 weeks pregnant (picture is 25 weeks, picture below).
Grant has been busy planning summer events for the youth and working on our Saturday night services at the Arlington campus! Pretty soon, trips will take him out of town for 3 weeks and then we have about a week in there and then I am out of town for an additional 2 weeks.
I have about 3 1/2 months left in my pregnancy! AHHH! It's cool but scary at the same time! That time is assuming Maksim comes on time (which they never do, right?) Always either earlier or later. My vote has always been earlier for him. I just hope not TOOO early.
We have been picking up a few cute things here and there for Maks' room! I think we pretty much have everything but a rug for his room and we just need to paint it. We have the paint ready, but haven't really had a free moment to do anything with the paint.
The youth group is about to head out to San Antonio, TX here in a few weeks so I am excited for them!
AAAAANNNDDDD, last but not least, I have my first baby shower coming up! AHH! I haven't even registered yet! Any tips?!

That's all for now! Who knows when I will be back on but I will make an effort to try!

"You of little Faith...why do you doubt?"

2010-05-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, two posts in one day! One was a test run for a new app Grant got me for my Blackberry. The picture came out entirely too large, so I will have to mess with the app a bit (I had to fix on the normal computer). Grant and I have been blessed to be able to go to Destin, Florida Sunday, so I plan on updating from my new application! I have such a sweet, thoughtful husband!

Today I was reading in my devotional (that I LOVE and have recommended a ton on my blog!-See picture below) called "At His Feet" by Tiegreen.

The verse today was from Matthew 14:22-32 about Jesus walking on water. We often hear about this in sermons, but there is something cool about reading it again and a getting a renewed message from the passage. In Matthew 14:31 it says:

"You of little faith," he said, "Why did you doubt?"

And, I often feel like Jesus says that to me...sometimes DAILY. When issues come up like our huge medical bills for Maksim, an unexpected expense with maternity leave, cars dying, lights at church failing to work...(a lot of my faith issues come with finance worries)... God ALWAYS pulls through and I find myself saying "Why did I ever doubt?" God is CONTINUALLY FAITHFUL to us in more ways than we could ever imagine!

Here is a tid bit from the devotional:

"If our ears are truly open to Jesus, we will probably hear such a rebuke daily (referring to Matthew 14:31) It is a gentle rebuke, coming from One who understands our frailties better than we understand them ourselves. But it is a firm reminder that the life we live is to be radically different from dependence on our human senses and reasoning that most of the world understands."

Today's devotional ends with this (and I will, too):

"We must get to the point where we hear His voice alone and become deaf to all others. Then we will know what it's like to walk on water."

Chinese Sub & Jerry's!

2010-05-13T06:46:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my sweet friends who made my birthday dinner and dessert WONDERFUL! Dinner at the Chinese Sub Shop and then dessert at Jerry's Sno Cones! Both of which I was introduced to this year! I am spoiled!
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Birthday and Mother-To-Be Day

2010-05-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post!

WELL, it was a crazy fun weekend! I had my birthday and Mother-To-Be Day all in one! I was extremely spoiled! Grant got me a new camera (see other post) for my birthday and for Mother's Day he bought me a dozen roses and spending money for our Florida trip! Grant is speaking at a retreat in Destin and they GRACIOUSLY allowed me to come along! And, my bosses GRACIOUSLY allowed me to go! So grateful! We have 6 days of not doing anything at all! It's going to be super nice!!!

My side of the family got me a prenatal massage! Sooo nice! I think I am going to hold off on cashing it in until after Camp Electric...when I will need it! Grant's parents got me a pedicure and manicure!!! NICE! I think everyone wants me to relax!!!

Here is a super cute onesie that my bosses bought for me! It's from The Bomb Mom Website which is TobyMac's wife's website! They got me a maternity shirt and a onesie for Maksim!

My wonderful friend, Chelsea, took me out to eat at my favorite restaurant, OLIVE GARDEN! She was passing through on her way to see her parents and stopped in to see me! She gave me some fun shopping money and I bought some maternity shorts (I wish I could wear these shorts all year round when I am not even pregnant. I have a complex with shorts...always have and maybe always will unless I wake up one morning and I have Heidi Klum's legs!) and I bought this cute onesie for Maks! I know, I know! #1: It won't be baseball season when he gets here and it's a newborn onesie, #2: he won't be able to wear it for long, and #3: The Braves are pretty much on a losing streak right now, but faithful fans will stick by them!!! It might be kinda mean to push this on Maks, but he's gotta learn young!

I have a little more shopping to do with my shopping money from Chelsea and I will have a BLAST doing it!

On my actual birthday, we had one of my favorite lunches! Spaghetti with my family and then after my Mom left for work, my Dad, Kristina, Matt, Grant and I went to Lowe's to pick out paint colors that matched these bowls/place settings that Mom has and we painted her kitchen! It took us about 3 hours tops even with clean up! I was impressed! She was totally surprised! Here's the end result!

It's funny how paint can really change a room! It even makes her table look better and new! It goes with the country look of the space. My Dad and Kristina looked at me funny when we started the bottom color...they were unsure about it, but I think now they love it! It even makes the dark blinds pop!!!

My Mom and I are throwing a shower for my sis-in-law this Friday so I am excited to use the new space!

More pics to come! Showers galore this weekend!

The Secret Church

2010-04-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yep! Two posts in one day! I wanted to devote this all to our bible study lesson we did last night at our weekly "Bible Study at the Butler's"!

We are just starting a new series from David Platt's work on "The Secret Church". From what I understand, David Platt starts out this conference at 6:00 p.m. one night and goes until midnight. We will be breaking this up a bit.

Last night we had a preview night that ended up being chalked FULL with information. We watched the first session in a series of video clips. The section we are doing is on "Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare" which I am really interested in learning about. All I know is what I have read from the fiction book "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti. I love the book, but at David points out, we need to be focused on understanding the Bible and not Frank Peretti.

We started the night (and ended it, too) by going over the Foundational Truths before diving into the angels and demons part. David Platt said he wanted to equip the body of believers and not entertain and that's what he did...he presented straight facts from the Bible without a whole lot of stories to entertain.

Here are a few key points that stuck out to me:

As a church, are we a truth carrier or are we a luxury liner? (Truth carrier)
Will we indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of this world or will we engage ourselves in battle for peoples around the world?
There IS a spiritual world. See 2 Kings 6:8-23 . The king of Aram is at war with Israel and Elisha keeps telling the king of Israel where the king of Aram is and his troops so they can avoid them...well, the king of Aram gets angry and sets out to find Elisha. Elisha's servant gets scared: "Elisha's servant got up early, and when he went out, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, "Oh, my master, what can we do?" Elisha said, "Don't be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us." Then Elisha prayed, "Lord, open my servant's eyes, and let him see." The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha". WOW! That was the spiritual world that Elisha's servant was able to see!
The basis for understanding this war is biblical.

We are in a war daily:

"The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News-the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God. We do not preach about ourselves, but we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus. God once said: "Let the light shine out of the darkness!" This is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ".

-2 Corinthians 4:4-6

One of the ways we can be blinded is by not realizing DAILY that we are in a full fledged war for souls. We need to fight the spiritual battle in spiritual ways...PRAY! Satan wants to destroy...he wants to DESTROY God's people and defame God's power. Everyone is affected and involvement is inevitable. The battle is continual and we can't ignore this war.

But, the casualties are that you lose everything. The good news is the outcome is irreversible. Satan has already been defeated

"God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they are powerless".

-Colossians 2:15

We know the end of the story...we fight FROM victory, not FOR victory.

(I feel like there should be a battle scene here!)

*These are all my notes from David Platt...I didn't come up with this on my own :)

The Fabric is IN!

2010-04-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

Maksim's fabric came in this week!!! I am going back and forth on the paint color for Maksim's room, but the fabric, bed set, and curtains are all picked out. Here are a few quick pictures!

Here's the fabric!!! AAHH! I love it! The animal fabric is for the bedspread, bumper, and window treatments! The polka dot fabric is for the bed skirt. The background color is black (if you can't tell).

(Below): My WONDERFUL other preggo friend, Laura was shopping at Hobby Lobby the other day and saw these black hanger holder things (don't know correct term), but they are $40 so we will be waiting on mega sales before we buy these! But, HOW perfect! Giraffe and elephant are EXACTLY what are in the bedding! The last one is a lion, so that's a maybe, but still...so perfect!

(Below): And, here is the crib from Target :) I love it!

Now, all we need is Maksim!!! (Not quite, but BOY are we getting excited!) Grant got excited looking at kid toys today...mostly because he can't wait to have an excuse to buy cool boy things.

I am half way in my pregnancy today! The Lord is soooo good!

At a Loss for Words...

2010-04-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Started the weekend off with a wedding shower for Amanda!

Grant and I have always said once we had a baby (or baby on the way) that we would get a good camera and we finally did! We got a Digital Canon Rebel that does video as well. Here are a few pictures from it (including the one above):

This is a close up of Tony, our Great Dane! I thought it was so cute!

This one is of Maddie (Maddox) our stray cat

And, here's Tony with his eyes closed...I just wanted you to see how he sits on the couch. So cute!

This could be my first post that I actually have nothing to say! So, I will leave it at that!

Ten Things Tuesday (ok, 11)

2010-04-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

There are a few things that I thought were just too great to keep to myself...like I would be doing you a disservice :)

Jesus Culture

1. A band that is new to me, but I am sure has been around for a while named Jesus Culture. AMAZING! From what I understand, it's a band as well as a conference.

2. Found a cheap, cute website for preggos: Kiki's Fashions! I would compare it to the equivalent of Forever 21...cheap clothes that will last you about a year and then just might fall apart, but to my knowledge, pregnancies don't last that long :)

3. Karen Kingsbury! She got me into reading...actually, the book "The Shack" got me into reading, but Karen got me into speed reading, ha! Here is a link to all her books: Karen Kingsbury's Complete Book List. I still have a few more to go, and I haven't been disappointed yet. I am currently on "Take Three" (a set of 4 total...I think the last one is coming out this summer). My all time favorite series is the Redemption Series. There are 14 books total that are about the Baxter Family. The Redemption Series consists of 5 books, then the Firstborn series (5 books) and then the Sunrise series (4 books)...I wish she would have kept going but the endings were perfect! I am always up for suggestions for new books! I just borrowed a few from a friend...some are secular books so we will see how I like those.

4. Polka Dot Design Invitations. You think you are done with showers, but I don't think you ever really are! I have two of my best friends (one is my sister-in-law) getting married this year and about a million friends are pregnant and I have opted to throw a few showers and I got a few of the invitations from this website. Wonderful! You can even check the clearance for cute cards, too!

5. My shameless plug for our Christ Church Saturday Night service! My husband, Grant, leads the service and we have an awesome band that plays every Saturday night. If you don't have a place to call home, check us out!

6. Camp Electric my job! If I was a 13 through 18 year old, I would LOVE to be at this camp! It's a worship camp for students...and no, I am not getting a bonus to endorse this...I honestly love it that much!

7. Interior Design. I have my degree in Interior Design and love to do it!

8. Pickles!!! My fav are Claussen pickles! YUMMM! And, this was BEFORE I was pregnant and it's just upped like a million times!

9. My planner! It's a Franklin Covey and it's giraffe print! If you know me, you know I love me some animal print!

10. My Blackberry. I used to be an iPhone person but now I am Blackberry all the way! Love it!

11. Yes, it's not a very even number, but oh well. My new TV obsession: "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution". I think he is up to episode 4 and you can watch them on Hulu.com

The Beginning Stages of Maksim's Room!!!

2010-04-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Some people might think I am jumping the gun working on my baby's room, but here's my reason's why I am starting so early:

#1: I am an interior designer, so besides the actual BIRTH of my baby and all that comes with it, this is pretty high on my priority list!

#2: If you guys know my job, Camp Electric, you know how I disappear off the face of the earth from pretty much June through beginning of August. Our camp is July 11-22nd (two camps in there) and we pack up and move our office to Nashville for about 3 1/2 weeks. So, I figured I would start now working on my ideas.

There used to be a magazine named "Domino: The Guide to Living with Style", but it went out of print (devastating!). They still have a book for print that I have yet to get but have looked through and LOVE:

Anyways, so I was looking through their November 2008 edition (yes, I found this a while ago) and found this baby room that I fell for right then! It was in the home of Jenna Lyons, J.Crew creative director. Her whole house was this theme. Well, if I had a girl, I wasn't sooooo keen on this room idea because I thought it fit better with a boy's room. Well, whalla! I am having a boy! So, here we go! Here are two pretty bummy pics I took of the magazine that I still have tabbed from that day!

I even tried to get Grant to go for the name Beckett back when I found this article, but he x-nayed it (I googled that word...it's real!) I am not sure if you can see the colors as well, but they are yellows, blacks, and whites. Some of you may not see this as a typical boys room but I will change your mind by the time the room is finished. Granted, I don't want the room exactly like this...I won't paint whole walls black and I definitely won't stripe the ceiling...only people who can pay to have that done do it, honestly. And, I have a feeling that Grant and I would paint one stripe and give up since we would be painting on our backs on ladders, ha!

I am wanting to bring a blueish-grey color into the room some how, so my colors for Maks' room will be yellow, black, white, and blueish-grey with pops of fun stuffed animals in there!

I have a friend that Grant and I have known for years, Jenny Beth, who has her own company, The Preppie Peonie, and she will be working with me on our bedding for Maksim's room.

Here is one picture that may be closer to the actual design I will do. I don't plan on doing the cow print below the chair rail, but I may do atleast one wall with black under the chair rail...or possibly black and white stripes. Grant doesn't want Maks to feel like he's in a prison though, so that one might be experimental.

My goal is to find a fun black and white print for the bedding...I don't want all white bedding...that could be a disaster when accidents occur!

Hannah, one of my best friends from college, has a white tree decal in her baby, Ivy's, room and it got me thinking about decals for Maksim's room. Here are a few that Grant and I will narrow down...we are obviously not using them all! Ha!

These decals are from Dali Decals and they are SOOOO cheaply priced (or I wouldn't be doing this...did I mention we will be doing this room on a strict budget???) You can get the decals in any color, so if we decide on any of the animals we will probably do them in black. I know a lot of people are scared of black, but I will break that fear...just wait! The decals are priced as shown, so with the two whales, the price is only $15 which is CRAZY good! The plane is the most expensive and the name is right up there for $40, but you get two names for that price, so we would do Maksim Samuel. We may decide on just the initials...we will see!

So,the next step is to find the specific fabric we want and go from there. Til next time!

P.S...if anyone needs design work done (I do more than baby rooms), my degree is in Interior Design, so just let me know!

Christ Church Saturday Nights!

2010-04-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Christ Church Saturday Nights started up this past Saturday, Easter weekend! Here is a picture of the early crowd!

I think it was a great turnout for the first Saturday! Grant and I disagree as to whether it was more packed because of Easter or less packed because of Easter...I think because it was Easter and several people were out of town, it was less. That's just my opinion though.

The message was GREAT, in my opinion. I am trying to take good notes to relay to my blog. Grant gave us a sneak preview of what we are beginning this week. The series is called "Bizarro Jesus" where we will be removing our idea of Jesus and learning about who he really is from the scriptures. So, in his sneak preview he started out with the verses from Matthew 7:21-23:

"Not all those who say 'You are our Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On the last day many people will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.' Then I will tell them clearly, 'Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.'"

In verse 22, it shows that they say to him "Lord, Lord" which is a sign of respect...so these people know of him and who he is but they don't really KNOW Jesus. Jesus is anti-religion and the series will touch on that. Many people in our day who may be teachers are sacrificing authority of the Bible for their feelings and opinions...that is dangerous as you can see in the verses above.

Many people know of what people are now calling the "Prosperity Doctrine" that is being taught by some churches today. 2 Timonthy 4:2-4 talks about these teachers: "Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times, and tell people what they need to do. Tell them when they are wrong. Encourage them with great patience and careful teaching, because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories." (Italics mine). Who doesn't want to hear things that make them feel good? But, when it comes to the Bible and the preachers that we listen to today, we need to be challenged in the word, not just taught things that they think we want to hear.

But, we are accountable for our actions...we must explain how we have lived:
"God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. Everything is clear and lies open before him, and to him we must explain the way we have lived" Hebrews 4:12-13

How will we be able to detect false teachings and find out who Jesus really is and what he's about? Be like Jesus...be in His Word! 2 Corinthian 3:18.

That was just a tid-bit of his sermon but it really spoke to me.

CC Saturday Night services are all about building community and working together to figure out how to live as Christians and learn about the character of God! I am excited to see where it goes from here!

After the service, we invited the congregation to go out to eat at a Sports Grill...here is a picture of a few of us afterwards.

Til next time :)

P.S. my Mom and I found the CUTEST little onesies for Maksim...just thought I would throw this one in there! I am trying to figure out the room design for Maksim...I thought I had it the other night and then figured out the bedding was WAY too expensive for our tastes...so, back to square one :)

It's a BOY!!!

2010-04-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body"

-Psalm 139:13

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord answered my (our) prayer and gave him to me. Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life."

-1 Samuel 1:27

Our baby boy sucking his thumb!

The coolest thing EVER was watching the ultrasound and seeing our baby move! Wow! It's moments like that where I find it hard to believe that atheists exist. This weekend I went with The Nixon's (minus Grant) to Jackson, Mississippi for a wedding shower for Amanda and Michael. The day we got there, her friend, Audrey (who is an ultrasound tech) gave me a free ultrasound! We got there and went to eat at a yummy sandwich place and while I had my belly full of tea, I was ready for the ultrasound! He was moving all over the place!!! It was sooo cool to see! She showed us several things and took many pics (some I will show on here) and we saw him put his feet over his head, burp, suck his thumb and Audrey also saw where it was a "he"! When that time came, she cleared everyone out of the room and I shut my eyes so I wouldn't see there what the baby was.

After the ultrasound, Audrey called our cake lady who was making a cake for us to cut into the next day and see the sex! The outside of the cake was white and the inside was to be either blue for a boy or pink for a girl! So, the next day we had a few of our closest friends at Allison and Blake's house and they threw us a Baby Reveal Party! After playing some fun games and eating some of my cravings, Grant and I cut into the cake to see the blue!!! It's a BOY!!! We were over joyed! Grant jumped a few feet off the ground!!!

Here are a few pictures:

(above): 4D ultrasound of his face

(above): a good body shot! Head on the left and feet on the right

(above): His feet were over his head! His bottom is on the right of the screen;

head on left with feet above

We have chosen a name for him that means a lot to both Grant and I.

When we were both at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi there was a tragic car wreck that ended up killing a few students on campus. Grant was close to one of the guys that died, Maksim Sisoev, who was a foreign exchange student from Uzbekistan. The death affected hundreds and Grant, along with many, many others, still miss him to this day, but they are confident that he is with our Lord.

Since his death, Grant and I have wanted to name a boy after Maksim and hopefully one day we will adopt from Uzbekistan (or atleast try). Here is a YouTube video that someone made and Grant posted after Maksim passed: Maksim Sisoev

As many of you close to me and my family know, my grandfather, Samuel Morella, passed away this past summer. It's been pretty tough for the whole family. We wanted to honor Grandpa's death in another way as well. Also, we like the name Samuel because of who Samuel was in the bible:

"Samuel was the son of Elkanah and Hannah who had long been barren. Hannah dedicated him to the Lord as a child and brought him to Eli the priest. When Samuel was a child, he heard the voice of the Lord speak to him at the shrine in Shiloh. As an adult, Samuel played an important part in uniting the tribes against the growing threat of the Philistines. Samuel anointed Saul as king of Israel, and later went to Bethlehem anoint David as Saul's successor."

This is a picture of Grandpa, Samuel, and Grandma at our wedding rehearsal dinner (BBQ/Cowboy themed!)

It may seem dark to name our child after people who have passed, but this is our way of keeping their memories alive.

Our baby's name is...

Maksim Samuel Nixon

Meaning of the name Maksim: The boy's name Maksim \m(a)-ksim,mak-sim\ is a variant of Maximilian(Latin), and the meaning of Maksim is "greatest".

Meaning of the name Samuel: It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "God heard". Also possibly as "requested of God", "God's heart" or "God's name".

I think both of those definitions are well suited! We couldn't be more excited and can't wait to meet Maksim or "Maks"!!!

Here's one last fun picture.

Most everyone who has read my blog has heard of the crazy amount of friends of mine who are pregnant now! Here are a few of them! From the left to right:

Natalie: due in May...almost there!

Laura: due August 25th (our friend, Allison's birthday!)

Me: due September 8th (Allison's husband, Blake's birthday!) I am at 17 weeks now!