Superstitious?!

I am not usually a superstitious person. I feel as if it is almost sinful. Even so, as a child, I LOVED fortune cookies. As I have gotten older, I have been very frustrated with fortunes turning into words of wisdom or witty sayings. As we were eating at Doc Chey's last night with our dear friends, I was complaining about this. As I did, I opened my fortune... and this is what it said...So, who knows. Maybe Baby S will choose to arrive a little early?

Belly Update

WOW... I know. My belly is HUGE! Still loving inch and every pound though. I love to feel the baby move around. It entertains us for hours on end. Let's hope it isn't as big of a baby as Ryan was. 10 lbs, 11oz. WHEW!

A few CHRISTmas Pictures

Anna and Jennifer

Noah's First Christmas!
Snoop was pooped.
Ryan baked a cake!
My side of the family (minus the camera man Ryan)

Christmas Ornament from Aunt Jacie (Jamie). THANK YOU!!!

Uncle Thomas holding Noah. This is the first baby he has EVER held!

We had a wonderfully full Christmas. We went to Ryan's parents, my Grandmothers and my parents all in the span of 24 hours. Wheew. We were exhausted, but it was a lot of fun.

Snoop opens his stocking!

He eventually had his whole body in his stocking trying to get the last bone at the bottom!

Looking in amazement at all Santa brought him!
Snoop had to go ahead and open his stocking last night. Tonight we go to his Grandma and Papaw's (Ryan's parents)and tomorrow we head to Grammy and Clyde's (My parents) house. Since there are other dogs at these houses, we didn't want to lug all of his presents. Along with all of his stocking treats, Snoop also got a HUGE candy cane full of bones from his Aunt Moo Moo. I tell you one thing, this dog lives the life!!!

Oh and P.S. - So that Ryan isn't totally mortified, Snoop has a coat on because Megan (Moo Moo) and I had just finished walking him in the rain. Ryan hates the coat!

School Christmas Program

My oh so excited kids singing.

Teachers (and our principal in black) "jingle bell rockin'"
Mrs. McDougal noticing about 30 seconds too late that the other jingle bell rockers had left the performance and she is still playing her air guitar. The whole room erupted!
Thursday was our last day at school. We had a Christmas Program first thing in the morning, which basically means 5,000 packed into a very small place and a lot of kids singing at the top of their lungs (and out of tune). It is pretty stinkin' hilarious. I was sitting where I could see the Pre-K through 1st really good. They were too funny. After this, we went back to our rooms for breakfast, watched a movie and bid the kids fairwell. Wheew. God Bless the teachers who last a whole day on their last day before break.

You think Wesley likes Snoop?

This is our friend's child Wesley. He LOVES to make Snoop bark. I had a great time video taping this. I hope our child is as entertained by Snoop as Wesley is!

This Weekend We...

Went to go see Dreco sing downtown. Good job buddy!

Had the Laney's over for a bit. Ray makes himself at home doesn't he?!
Ryan finally let Maggie cut the fro!
walked downtown for the Twighlight Tour with the Laneys


saw Jazzy dressed up as Cinderella in the freezing cold. If anyone has personality, it is this child. She was mad at her mom because she wouldn't let her wear her slippers too!
Ryan was off for the first time in FOREVER. We had a lot of fun. Our homegroup went downtown for the Twiglight Tour and then went to Dugan's Pub afterwards. The Christmas Season is finally on!

Top Ten Reasons I LOVE Being Pregnant

1. I have a constant reminder that the Lord is using my body to create a miracle. Yes, I know that there are a million other ways that He remind us, but I will just be honest and own the fact that I am human and allow myself to get way to busy to notice His miracles.
2. Having Ryan talk to our unborn child. IT IS PRECIOUS!!! He is going to be such an amazing daddy and I can't wait to see him in "action".
3. Seeing Ryan give Snoop "Pep Talks" to prepare him for this child.
4. Walking through my parent's front door and hearing my dad say "How is Clyde?" Don't worry, we aren't actually going to torture this child and name he/she Clyde. My dad, however, thinks that it is a brilliant name and can't get off of it. So, we have decided that it doesn't matter what he wants to be called, he will be Clyde!!! He makes me laugh.
5. Listening to all of my children's comments and questions about having a child. We actually had a 45 minute discussion one day at school after I showed them the ultrasound video. One kid explained to the class that "When you get pregnant, you get this thing called hormone (yes it was singular) and that we need to watch it and not make Mrs. Shelton mad or she might go crazy". He continued to tell us that "my momma said when you are pregnant or a teenager, your hormone is raging". Poor guy has a 14 year old brother and a 16 year old sister. It did make for great entertainment.
6. Not finding out the gender of this child. For those of you who know me very well, pick your jaw up off of the floor. This is totally out of character for me to not want to know the sex of my child. I am a whee bit of a type a personality. As soon as I let Ryan know that we were pregnant, his immediate reaction was, "we can't find out what it is"! I fought with arguing it, but decided to go along with his request. Boy am I glad. It is such a neat feeling to be reminded that there is something that is completely and totally out of my control and that only the Lord knows. Don't worry, Ryan asked the ultrasound tech and she supposedly doesn't even know! This also brings up very interesting conversations about how to tell if it is a boy or girl. That brings me to number 7.
7. Hilarious ways that people try to figure out the gender of your unborn child. Yes, I have to admit that we did the voodoo pencil test. It said it was a girl, so we will see. Being a teacher, I have about 60 women's opinions to spring off of at work. They will come up to me and "size me up" trying to determine what the gender is. It is actually pretty hilarious. Ryan is sure it is a girl. I have not a clue!
8. Looking at those cute little clothes. I was with my grandmother this past weekend in an adorable store back in my hometown. It was a relief to know that we didn't know the gender, or I would have walked out of there bankrupt. I wonder if that was Ryan's true reason for not finding out?
9. Talking to the ones who I know will be the closest to this child and thinking of how awesome it will be for them to have these role models in their life. I can't wait for Baby S to meet it's grandparents, great-grandmothers, Cousin Noah, Jacie (That's Jamie's name for Baby S to call her), Aunt Anna, Uncle Jason and all of the other aunts, uncles and friends that they will share life with. I feel blessed to have such a support group in my life.
10. Knowing that I am not taking classes at all in the Spring.

I am sure that some people's pregnancies are horrible. I know that Ryan and I have been very blessed so far. I haven't gotten sick and besides being tired, I have felt great. I am just going by one of my friend's motto's that told me to "love every inch and every pound that the Lord lets you experience". What a great way to look at this. Now, don't get me wrong, Ryan has had to listen to the complaining and frustration of not being able to fit in my favorite jeans anymore and all of the other petty things that those "raging" hormones have taken over. Overall though, I just feel blessed! Thank you Lord for this miracle!

WAR EAGLE!!!

It sure it great to be an Auburn Tiger!!!

Second Trip to See Noah

Sugar needed a little attention from Uncle Ryan too!

My "sister" had 6 kids!!!

Okay, well my sister is actually a bulldog, but it's as close as I can get! My mom is being a stellar grandmother already. She has to help the puppies nurse EVERY TWO HOURS!!! A breeder's dream come true, these cutie patooties will be ready to go to their new homes on Christmas Eve. The picture was too cute not to share!

Noah Thomas Cranford

Yay! He is finally here! Noah came into the world Friday night. He was 8lbs 6oz. Anna is still sore from her c-section, but doing well. Noah is handsome as can be and sooo sweet. We were able to "swing" by to meet our little nephew Sunday night after our trip to Auburn. What a great weekend. Seeing some of your best friends and becoming an aunt! Can it get any better? Here are some pictures of the little stud muffin!

Anna introducing Noah to his Uncle Ryan
Cuddled up on his chunk of an arm!
Proud Momma
Proud Uncle (and very tired Noah)

Congrats Anna and Jason. We are so excited for you. We are so glad you are finally here Noah. We can't wait to spoil you!

WAR EAGLE!!

Baby S's Jacie and Momma! I love you Jamie and miss you like crazy. It was so good to see you!
Casey, Paula and Jamie- The Braswell Ladies
Big Jon and Ryan (he really isn't as disgusted as he looks)
Lisa and Jon!
It was so good to meet you Lisa. I am proud of you Jon. Good catch ;)!
What a great feeling to be at an Auburn game!
And we got to see Ford. He was 1 on Friday. Congrats to Sarah and Joseph who have accomplished the amazing task of parenthood for an entire year. You are awesome parents and Ford is so blessed. It was good to see you.

Halloween... a little late

Zach dressed up as me for Halloween. How funny?! P.S. This kid looks sooo much like Ryan!
John (our art teacher) and Carol, who dressed up as John!
Matthew dressed up as his sisiter. If you didn't know it was a wig, you couldn't tell the two apart!
and then there is Renee. What can I say? HAHA!

Whew... another week down

This has been another crazy week without a moment to sit down and take it all in. We had something going on every night this week. Ryan is coaching til 7 every night and while he is loving it, it is also exhausting. I had class Monday night, Open Classroom Tuesday, Class Wednesday, BUNCO Thursday and then we spent the night in the Urgent Care Friday. Ryan has had a disgusting rash that has been coming up off and on since last Thursday. Come to find out it is the hives and they can't tell us what it is coming from. Go figure! So, he is doped up on medications and praying that it is something that doesn't happen again.

Friday was Field Day at school. Because it rained all week, they decided to move the festivities inside. I have to admit that I was not thrilled about this at first. It did, however, work out just fine. The kids had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing them smile and enjoy the day.

This weekend was a blast. Saturday, I went to the Halloween Festival downtown with some friends. Can't not celebrate Halloween when you live in Transylvania County! Here are some pictures of the cutest little kids ever!

Oh and no baby nephew yet. Be praying for Anna and Jason. Their due date was today. We can't wait for Noah to arrive.