An End to 2009...

Tomorrow is December 31, 2009. It's been an eventful and wonderful year!! We hope everyone has a Happy New Year & a great beginning to 2010.

Well our big 22 week update: Not only can I really feel Grahm moving/kicking but Grant felt him too for the first time! Last night we were watching a movie after dinner and Grant had his hand on my belly. I felt Grahm moving but hadn't said anything because I didn't think Grant could feel it. All of the sudden he gives a good kick (or punch, or something!) and Grant's eyes get huge and he just looks at me. We couldn't believe it! Grahm did it one more time. It was so exciting to see Grant's face and see him experience that! He gets pretty active after I eat it seems. Today after lunch I was in a meeting and he was going to town, I couldn't help but sit there and smile while he wiggled around.

Here are a few pics of the beginning stages of the crib. Much of it is done, we just have to finish staining the front and sides. They are starting the headboard soon. It's going to be a big piece of baby furniture!

Raw wood cut for the front

Front, done & ready to stain!

Side, also ready to stain!

Saturday we're meeting Renee. If things work out, she's going to be making Grahm's bedding and drapes! We've seen her work and she does a great job! Here are some of the colors/fabrics we're considering. We'll see what we come up with this weekend! We're ready to get fabric swatches so we can start matching paint!

& Teal! haha

For Christmas Grahm got a Sock Monkey named Jasper and his first Razorback hat from GG, first blanket from MeeMaw and first set of pacifiers (Razorback ones!) from my mom (her 'name' is undecided haha)! Grant and I also couldn't resist these tiny little Converse shoes!

Grahm's First Pair of Sneakers!

Just some fun pics of our fur children...

Jax posing for the camera after rolling around on the bed

Bella hiding from the camera! Very unusual - she's a ham!

Aww sweet Bella snuggled under the covers!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

Go Hogs!

Love,

G&B (+1)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Only a few days until Christmas! The holidays really snuck up this year. The question everyone seems to be asking is "where did 2009 go?!".

Well I'm asking the same question - but more like "where did the last 21 weeks go?!". We can't believe we're already at 21 weeks! Below is the latest picture of baby belly, he's growing! (our other little boy wanted to be in the picture too).
We bought 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and we can't wait to read it to Grahm. My mom read it to me every Christmas so I can easily recite it without the book, haha...but it's fun to look at the pictures too.
Tonight Grant was talking to him and he was talking in a funny voice and I said "talk normal so he'll know daddy's voice" and Grant put his face up to my belly and said "LLluuukkkeee, I am your father". Ha! I love it! I guess he cleared that right up :)

21 weeks!

Well I am officially graduated as of Saturday! Brittney Ann Skelton, MBA (haha..no but seriously, WHEEW!). Grant and I have already enjoyed the extra time together. In just a few days I'm already realizing how much time I spent studying, writing papers, and in class. This is a long awaited freedom, although it was worth it. Here are some pics from graduation:

Receiving my diploma from JBU President, Dr. Pollard

Getting 'hooded' at the Graduate ceremony

Grant, me, Mom & Dad Skelton and James

Me with some random handsome guy.

Ok...ok, so I know him. Thanks for all your support Hubs!

Mom, me, and Sissy

Me and my bff - lil' sis Sara, better known as "Sissy"

Natalie & I - she and Momma Petty drove all the way

from Little Rock for the big day. Love you!

Me and my Grandad!

Dad & I

Tiffany, Joan, Dad, Grandma, Hannah, me, Ryan & Sara

Grandma Daisy, me and Aunt Lula.

By the way, I forgot to tell you Grandma but someone asked

who you were and said "she's so pretty!"

Sissy, Mom, Cousin Emily, me, Grandad, & Aunt Melissa

Us with LJ & Joe aka 'mom and dad' they've helped

take care of me when Grant works nights. LJ even records

our favorite show since I always had class when it was on TV lol.

Grahm graduated too!

I'm off to finish wrapping presents.

Merry Christmas!

Love, G&B (+1)

While we were still sinners....

I'm posting what a co-worker sent a few of us this past week because he so eloquently states what we should all remember this Christmas.

Romans 5: 6 - 8, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

What an amazing Christmas gift….the gift of Salvation. God asked Jesus to come to earth and die for us many Christmas' ago. And when Jesus willingly came, he did it for sinners like me and you. Wow! Very rarely would any ordinary man give his life to save even the greatest of men, but somehow God saw fit to save us. Today and this Christmas holiday rejoice in the fact that God loves us all with a crazy and eternal love that is far beyond what we know and it all started in a manger in Bethlehem.

Have a Blessed Christmas and New year!

Love,
G&B (+1)

And we will call him....

Wheew it's been a fun weekend so far. Grant and I went to my department Christmas party last night. Whole Hog catered and it was delicious! The best part was playing Guitar Hero after dinner and the white elephant gift exchange.

Grant and I have been going back and forth on deciding how to spell baby Skelton's name. We were debating between Graham and Grahm. Neither of us could decide which we liked better so we tried to focus on picking out a middle name. Today I came home after shopping and Grant was just waking up. I went in our room and sat by him and said "I think I like g-r-a-h-m" and he said "me too!". Apparently he decided he liked that spelling best while texting his friend Tony just minutes before. So it's official, we will call him....


Today was the first day I've had time to finally go shopping for baby stuff since the ultrasound! I got up this morning and hit the mall to look for Christmas gifts and buy a couple outfits for Grahm that are special to us.

This one is white, orange, and brown from Gymboree, couldn't resist!

His first 'mommy' outfit.

This outfit was a must have because "Handsome" has been a name I've always called Grant. We both loved it when we saw it at Gymboree. I had to go back and get it for our new little "Handsome".

Found this at Baby GAP, pretty self explanatory because Grahm's daddy rocks of course!

His first 'daddy' outfit.

We finally finished decorating the tree and mantel for Christmas! Things have been so busy lately but the house now feels warm and cozy for the holidays. Just a few more finishing touches to do.

Our mantel with stockings for Bella, Grant, Brittney, & Jackson.

Next year we'll have one more up there!

We also hang the yearly ornaments Mom Skelton gets us each

Christmas that represent something big that happened that year.

My sister Sara is hanging out with me tonight while Grant is working. Tomorrow we have church, Chuck-e-cheese with new friends, and then papers, papers, papers. I have to finish my final papers and presentations that are due next week. I can't believe I'll officially be done with grad. school in one week from today! Hooray! Thanks everyone for your support. I'm looking forward to having the extra time to spend with Grant and to work on preparing our home for Grahm.

Please pray for peace and comfort for the Crumby family. Their 4 year old daughter, Hannah, passed away this past Monday from Leukemia after suffering strokes and complications. Her family's faith has been an incredible witness and we praise God that she is free of pain and with Him now.

Praise God for providing for our One in a Million Family thru all of you who generously gave! The response was amazing and we'll be delivering all the items tomorrow and then enjoying time with the kids at Chuck-E-Cheese! Thank you!

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

Love,

G&B

It's a.....

(reposting because the last post on the 8th didn't display all of the text)
I've been getting in trouble this morning for not posting last night! We were so excited and busy and well the computer just wasn't calling my name. So sorry! haha. Ok so many know by now but for those who don't...drum roll....WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!

We are sooo very excited!
Honestly we would have been shocked (but still thrilled) if it weren't a boy, we were just so sure! My mom and sister, and Grant's mom and dad came to the ultrasound with us. She first took measurements and checked the heartbeat. It was so incredible to actually see the heart beat move along with the swooshing sound! The tears starting flowing at this point. Our baby boy measured at 7 inches and 11 ounces and the technician and doctor said that's just perfect. Based on those measurements we were exactly 19 weeks and 4 days as of yesterday and the due date is confirmed at May 2nd. Then...the technician said "so, are you guys ready?" and the room errupted with excitement when she announced "It's a boy" (insert more happy tears here).

Well time to get planning! We'll update with more pictures and the final name when we get the spelling and middle name down. The second picture is the 'boy' picture, although not very clear on here, there were a couple very clear shots of his 'boy-ness' during the ultrasound. The first picture is so precious too!

Baby Skelton 19 weeks
"It's a boy!"

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! Love,G&B (+1!)

Today is the big day!

3 hours until we go in for our ultrasound!!! Can't wait to see baby Skelton!

Jingle Bells Jingle Bells!

Yay! The Holidays are here!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Grant had to work overnight last night, and therefore sleep all day to rest up, so we didn't get to visit our Skelton side of the family. He did wake me up when he got home Thurs. morning though and we had a Thanksgiving breakfast together at Cracker Barrell haha. I went to Grandad's, we had most of the crew there and had a great time hanging out and eating too much. Well...and watching the Cowboys win!I had my first experience of having my belly continuously rubbed throughout the day. At least family made the first move and not a stranger in line at the grocery store or something! My mom's lil' hometown of Cassville, MO is going to the State Football Championship again this year so spirits were high as everyone is packing up and heading towards the dome in St Louis for the big game this weekend.

Got up this morning at 3:30am and hit the Wal-Mart blitz. We found lots of great stuff for the neice and nephews and a few things for others. Also snagged a 1-2-3 Lights and Sounds ball for Baby Skelton! It's the first toy we've bought (insert "awww" here). Luckily I got off work early, so now I'm home doing some serious damage to the soon-to-be nursery. Wheew it's time to get busy!

Oh...here is the most recent belly pic. Somedays it seems bigger, somedays not so much. But baby is definitely growing!

17 Weeks

Well if you follow my facebook you've seen a countdown for the last few days. Our ultrasound is Dec. 7th so today we're down to 10 DAYS! We're sooo ready to see the baby! I can't wait to see Grant's face!! I think we're starting to feel pretty confident that it's a boy (especially Grant!). But at the same time, I dunno, we'll see! Still feeling great minus a couple days of awful pain, the nurse said they were 'round ligament' pains and are normal, mine were just more severe than some. Doing good now though :)

We went out to the farm a couple weekends ago and stayed with Mom & Dad Skelton. Jim & Grant worked on the crib while I stained some of the finished pieces. Wow! It's amazing. I can't wait to see it all finished! I'll post some pics soon now that it's coming together.

I took some pictures of our niece, Trynity, and our nephews, Tryston and James playing in a pile of leaves. They are just too cute!

James

Tryston & Trynity

Well back to working on the 'nursery' (I have to quit calling it the office!).

Time to start putting up Christmas decorations!

Go Hogs & Cassville Wilcats!

Love - G&B + 1

And the Dr. said....

We had our 3rd appt today with Dr. Hix (last time was with Gorman). We've liked both so far. It was suggested we meet with different doctors since which Dr. delivers really depends on who's on call. Today we got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! Last visit it was 160bpm, this time the heartbeat was 150bpm. We opted out of the amniocentesis (AFT) testing. Everything is going well and the Dr. doesn't have any concerns. Dr. Hix also said I might start to feel the baby's movements between now and then. We were very excited about today because they were supposed to schedule our first ultrasound...and...the big day is Monday, Dec. 7th at 3:30 pm with Dr. Bailey. So we're counting down the 4 weeks until we get to see our baby for the first time and hopefully tell if we're having a boy or girl!! On that note we have settled on first names...drum roll please....... If we have a girl we're naming her Reese. And if a boy, then Grahm/Graham. Middle names are still very much in the works :)

14 week 'baby bump'

We did some heavy duty cleaning this weekend. We started cleaning out the nursery to-be, which we previously used as an office, not realizing how much STUFF we have to find places for. So we first had to clean out other closets and areas to move stuff into. It's going to be a tight squeeze, I think some call that cozy right? lol.

We also went to the Hogs game with Trent and Naomi and then to Devil's Den with family. It was a fun weekend! Our baby is gonna know how to call the Hogs!!!

Oh and Mom Skelton...you were right...I ran into a door knob Saturday night. It's funny now because it doesn't hurt as bad. But I thought I broke my arm there for a bit (that wasn't so funny). I've gotta watch out for those walls and doors, they are starting to jump out there and bite me!

Well, before we sign off for tonight. Please enjoy a picture at our expense, haha. Again we have a sense of humor...here's a picture of Grant and I, I mean...Mario and Yoshi at Halloween.

Goodnight & Go Hogs!

Love,

G&B

November Already?!

The last couple of months disappeared! It's hard to believe it's already November. Not that we can tell by the weather...hot, cold, rain, shine...that's Arkansas!
Just a few updates on the Skelton family...
We have our next appointment on Monday Nov. 9th. Mainly just optional tests and our favorite part...we get to hear the heartbeat again! We're most excited about scheduling our ultra sound this visit. We should know Monday when we'll get to see our lil' "midgee" for the first time and also when we'll find out what we're having!!
We'll be 15 weeks this Sunday and I've still gone without any sickness! The only 'issue' I've had is sleeping comfortably without waking up a lot throughout the night. I have developed a craving and unfortunately a very unhealthy one...McD's french fries. Yep...of all things. I've always loved pickles, but now they sound even more delicious - Grant even brought me one to work on his way out to the farm today! He's so funny - love it. Salty stuff....yumm!
Grant has been out working on the crib with Jim. He's loving the time he gets to spend with his dad and work on such a special project. When it starts coming together we'll post some pictures of the progress. Jim really has a special talent for woodworking. I get to see some of the furniture pieces he and Wayne create and they are amazing!
We wanted to post a few more of the fall pictures we had taken in Oct. Shout out to Colter for a great job (his info below if you're needing pics done!).

Good night everyone! Woo Pig Sooie!

Colter Barron Photography - colterbarron@hotmail.com or (419).409.8393.

12 weeks!!

As of yesterday, we are officially 12 weeks along! We read that the baby is about the size of a lime and is developing reflexes this week. It also says that if we push on my abdomen the baby will move in response (although I wouldn't feel it) but how cool! I'm starting to get some energy back which is great, there for a while I was feeling a bit comatose. That energy will be much needed as I finish up the masters program this winter. Two nights a week, 6-10pm - yuck! But hey, after 6 1/2 straight years of college, 2 more months is nothing to complain about!
Grant is going to start moving furniture out of the 'office' tomorrow and we'll slowly start to convert from office to nursery. He's awesome...just sayin'. Finding places for everything currently in the office is going to be interesting. No one told us that one of the symptoms of pregnancy is a shrinking house. We'll figure it out :)
Ok well we're posting the first 'baby bump' picture for 12 weeks. It just popped out of no where in the last week! (You can see Bella pawing at me to pick her up lol). If Grant develops a sympathy bump, I'll make sure and post that too. Ha!

Well...Look closely - he/she is saying hello!

Grant and I spent some time at UofA campus yesterday and decided to finally go find my name in the Senior Walk. We snapped these photos with Grant's phone - not too shabby!

Old Main at UofA Campus
Brittney Ann Skelton on 2008 Graduating Class Senior Walk
2008 Senior Walk

We also had some Fall pictures taken yesterday at campus. It was a gorgeous day for pictures and Colter did a great job! Here are a few of the un-edited pictures we he gave us today (a bit more professional than our camera phone!)

A quick picture of our little growing 'plus one'

Had to get a picture with Jax and Bella

Trivia:

What does a wife do when she asks her husband for toilet paper because there are only 2 squares left on the roll and his response is "fold it"?
Answer: Wait a few minutes later when he's in the shower getting ready for work and steal the towels. Try folding that.

Hehe...ok well it was funny at the time :)

Go Hogs...gave a good fight against Florida. Let's beat Ole Miss!