~*Cheers to the New Year*~ and Goodbye to 2008.....

Over the last few days, I have been reflecting on some of my most memorable (both good AND bad) moments of 2008. Here they are, in no particular order:

MY BIG WIN AT THE HORSE RACES!!!

I put my money on the underdog that day; Hey Skootch was his name. I bet on him, and 2 other horses to Win, Place, or Show. Hey Skootch had 30-1 odds, but there was something about him...I just kept looking down at his name in my book. The races were packed that day, and I was sitting in the stands surrounded by several people. When I looked up, there he was.....#8. He was "dressed" in pink, and as he walked between the 2 people's heads in front of me, I knew it was a sign. I put $2 on each horse to Win, Place, or Show and headed out to watch the race. As the horses pounded the dirt on the last leg, I saw Hey Skootch getting closer to the finish line! I also saw the other two horses I had bet on getting close as well. When the final results of the race were posted, it was the most surreal feeling! "I never win ANYTHING," I thought to myself. I gave my ticket to my friend, Michael, and asked him if I had won. I saw his eyes get big, and I knew......I WON!!!!! The winnings were shown on the big screen outside. They were somewhere around $500!! Well, then I realized that I had bet DOUBLE! I won almost $1000!!! WOOOO HOOOOO! I was so shaken up when I went to the window to collect my winnings! There was a bit of confusion at first because I didn't have my social security card on me (ummmm...it specifically says NOT to carry it with you) but we got it straightened out, I filled out some papers, and I walked away with the biggest win I had ever had on ANYTHING! It was a great day, and one I will never forget.

DILLIGAF.....if you want to know what it means, look it up :)

In March, Justin and I made the decision to buy a boat, and we named her "DILLIGAF." We both LOVE the lake, and I spent a lot of time on the lake growing up, so we felt it was a great fit for our family. After trying to conceive a child for 3 months, we gave up for a little while and decided to buy a boat (from baby to boat.....I know, I know...you're probably thinking "hmmmmmm....ok"). I didn't really want to be pregnant during the miserable heat of the summer, and I was frustrated with trying. I realize that we didn't give it much time, but it was a very emotional 3 months for me (more on that later....). Anyway, we shopped used boats for a while, and after that proved to be a disaster, we just decided to buy new. We had the most fun summer we've ever in the 6 summers we have been together. We went to the lake several times with friends, had a BLAST in June when we went with my family, and still laugh about the trip we took to lake Ouachita where it was just the 2 of us. There is absolutely nothing more beautiful and breathtaking than a Ouachita sunset. All of those times fall in my most memorable moments of 2008 catalogue. :)

GRANDDAD

This past February, we lost someone very special to our family; My Granddad. His was the very first family funeral I have ever attended, my 3rd funeral all together. It was a very emotional time for each and every person who was ever a part of his life. He was just a laid back kind of guy who took FOREVER to eat...lol :) During family gatherings, we would all have eaten, cleaned up, and were ready for desert, and he would still be sitting quietly at the table finishing his dinner. He loved having a glass of milk with his meals, enjoyed HUGE breakfasts, and drank a lot of coffee. I was his only granddaughter, so we both knew that we each held a special place in eachother's hearts. During our last Christmas together, he received the hat he is wearing in the picture. I love this picture of him, it is the last one I have.

GETTING OFF BIRTH CONTROL

Now, you might think this is one of my GOOD most memorable moments, but let me assure you....it is definitely not. I stopped taking my birth control in January, and for the next 2-3 months, I was an absolute wreck. I always believed that people suffering from depression just needed to relax and enjoy life. I truly felt that it was just all in their head. But after I stopped taking this pill that regulated every hormone in my body, I began to suffer from depression and massive mood swings. I didn't feel like myself, I was crying alot, and I was getting mad (REALLY mad) over small things that didn't really matter. Justin could be sitting on the couch wrong, and I would just have a fit. I couldn't help it....and it hurt me SO BAD to be hurting him; that's where the depression came in. I was absolutely miserable. I now believe that depression is a very real condition, and I am sorry I was so naive before. I was in the shower one day, leaning my head against the wall, just crying uncontrollably. I had just yelled at Justin for something that was probably nothing at all, and I was to my breaking point. I wondered if I was ever going to snap out of this "funk." Justin came in the shower and just put his arms around me for a very long 5 minutes. He told me that everything was going to be ok. I feel so blessed to have Justin in my life because he is my strength when I am weak, and at that time, I was at my weakest point. I realize that this is a very personal story, but it IS one of my most memorable moments, and I am not afraid to share it with you. We all have our moments of weakness, and I just publicized mine :). I have posted a picture from one of my Girl's Night's Out that depicts what Justin probably thought of me at the time. I figured it would add a little light to the situation.

ABBEY

March was a busy month in the Scarlet house. Not only did we buy a boat and win big at the races, we also brought home a new addition to out family; Miss Abbey (Abbers, Abbey Slabby, Abbels, Princess, Abs-izzle....she has several nick names as you can see). We thought it might be nice to get Rosco a girlfriend. Anytime he goes to either of our parents houses, he has a ball playing with the other dogs. So we began our search for a new pup to add to the family. About the same time, mom was looking for a new dog to add to their family too. We both spent a lot of time looking on petfinder.com. I found Lori, a boxer mix who looked like a great fit for Rosco. Mom thought we might like Lulu. Both Lori and Lulu were at the Poteau Valley Humane Society, so we took an afternoon and drove out there to see them . I had my heart set on Lori. Once we got out there, they showed us where to find Lori; there she was......she was very VERY rowdy and sweetly aggressive for attention. This wasn't going to work. Those of you who know Rosco, know he is EXTREMELY laid back. She was too crazy for him. We asked them to show us Lulu. I wasn't a fan at first. I thought she looked kind of mean on the web site, and I didn't think she was all that cute. But once I saw her in person, I completely fell in love. I carried her around the facility as we looked at other dogs, and when I went to put her down, she held on like a cat, digging her little paws into my shoulder. She was laid back like Rosco, and I knew she would make a great little companion for him. She had these little ears that folded over and she was short and long. After we had her for several weeks, we noticed her ears starting to stand up, and shortly after that, they had grown into these little radars that stood straight up on top of her head. Thankfully she grew into them, but had she not, we'd love her just the same :) Doesn't Rosco just look thrilled to have a new girlfriend? They really do love eachother.....I promise :)

ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING BABY SCARLET

Of course, this tops the charts as the most memorable moment(s) of 2008. From trying to conceive, to finding out we were expecting; from our first ultrasound, to finding out we were having a little boy, and everything between and beyond, this has been the greatest part of 2008. Most of our blog is dedicated to writing about the pregnancy, so I won't recap all these great moments AGAIN (You are probably sighing with relief right about now...). And if you missed any of these monumental events, just go back to our first post in July and catch yourself up :)

SINGING KARAOKE UNTIL 6:00AM WITH CRYSTAL

I know, I know....this is kind of out there as a "top moment of 2008," but I literally fall on the floor laughing everytime I think about this. We had a fun night out with the Freeman's sometime late February. On the way home from the bar (yes....we were at the bar, so we had obviously been drinking), we stopped at Bob and Ellie's to eat breakfast....only Crystal and I didn't eat. We sat outside under the "smokers tent" laughing until we cried about God knows what. We went back in to get some food, and by that time, our husbands were already paying and getting ready to leave.....guess the time got away from us! When we got back to our house, BOTH of our husbands took a little nap in the living room; one on the couch, and the other on the chair. We went outside for a little while (ok, maybe it was a couple hours...who knows...) and talked about anything and everything. She had a couple beers, and I took a bottle of wine out there (the next morning, it looked like a high school party had taken place....lol!). We came in and decided it would be a FANTASTIC idea to sing a little karaoke. Isn't it ALWAYS a fantastic idea after a few adult beverages. We popped in American Idol Karaoke on the Playstation and sang (horribly) at the top of our lungs. The amazing part......our husbands slept through the entire thing!! Gee, they must have been exhausted.....reeeeeeeeeeeal tired. At the end of our "concert," Michael barely opened his eyes and gave us a big ol' THUMBS DOWN! I suppose we deserved it. :)

FRIENDSHIPS

This year, one of my most memorable moments was the evolving of friendships. There were many friendships that I have had for a long time that faded, and there were many new and wonderful friendships formed. Over time, people grow and change, and good friends you had in highschool do not make it to your late 20's. I suppose it's a part of growing older. It's bittersweet, nonetheless. Those friendships that I more or less lost, were replaced with new friendships that are still in the growing stages. People's life goals and preferences change as they age, and it's always a good idea to stick close to those that you have much in common with. Friends who are far different from you can still add a little spice to your life every now and then, but it's often hard to find things to converse about on a daily basis. I am thankful for what I've had in the past, and what I have now. I have learned something from each person who has been or is a part of my life, and that's something that can never be lost.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR- PREGNANT STYLE!

Last night, Justin and I rang in the New Year with a "rockin" party! First, we went to Cheddar's to eat. We got there at 4:30 (early, I know) because we knew there would be a wait.....sure enough it was about 30 minutes. We had a fun dinner and then headed to Best Buy where we picked up another guitar and Guitar Hero game for the Wii! Then we came home, drank hot chocolate, and rocked the night away!! We had a ball! At midnight, we counted down with Ryan Seacrest and toasted with some Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice that was given to us as a hostess gift at the Christmas Party. Thanks Luke and Holly, we enjoyed it! We talked about what 2009 is bringing us, and what we enjoyed about 2008. After that....you guessed it....BED TIME! I was EXHAUSTED! Go figure :) We had a great night, and the best part was that neither of us woke up with a hangover.

I hope that 2009 brings all of our family and friends much happiness and many, many blessings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Connor's Bedding is Here!

Today was like Christmas all over again! UPS knocked on the door around 1:00pm, and when I saw that the big box was from PolkaTot Designs, I was ecstatic!! I felt like Santa came to visit me AGAIN! Boy, I must have really been good this year. (Too bad Santa didn't pay for the bedding...lol). Justin and I went out today to buy a crib mattress so that we could put all the bedding together. The end result just melts my heart. Here is where our precious son will sleep(once we have the heart to get him out of our room and into his own bed.....)

Now, Daddy will have to make something to hang over his bed. Those of you who know Justin well, know that he has an incredible artistic side. He is looking forward to contributing something personal to Connor's room.

Today marks 27 weeks......just 13 more to go! Last night, I said "I can't believe we have just 13 more weeks" to Justin. He said he would rather me say "90 days" or "3 months" because it sounds longer than "13 weeks." No matter what I say, our little guy will be here before we know it! Our next appointment is January 7th. We are going to be having our 4-D ultrasound on that day! We can't wait to see what little Connor looks like! I believe our Mom's are going to go with us to share in the experience. This will also be the appointment where they will test for gestational diabetes. Apparently, I have to drink some yukky sugary drink so they can see how my body reacts to the high levels of glucose. I'll let you know how that goes.....yikes!

Thanks for letting me share my excitement over the bedding! We love you all and appreciate all your prayers and support.

Happy Holiday Happenings

Here it is, December 28th. Another Christmas has already come and gone! And just think, next Christmas will be SO DIFFERENT from any other Christmas we've had together. Wow......Connor will be about 9 months old, so where he might not be all into Santa yet, he will still be aware of the chaos known as Christmas. How exciting! :) Here is a recap of our Happy Holiday Happenings:

December 20th was our annual Christmas party, and OH what a success it was. We collected SO MANY items for KARMA, the local clothes closet benefiting children from birth to 5 years. It was an amazing act of selflessness, and we are blessed to have such generous friends. Thanks to all of you! Below are some pictures of the donations we collected:

Here is a picture of the donation box the morning after the party

We laid it all out and sorted it into categories

All packed up and ready to go!

After we dropped it off with the president of the Western Arkansas Childcare Provider's Association, she separated the donations into 7 bags and sent them to Lincoln, Quality, Head Start, Sandbox, Adrian's Creative School, Bost and Children's Paradise. Thanks again to all our friends and family, you are all Angels.

December 24th, Christmas Eve, is always spent at the Birch household. We had quite a crowd this year; Mom, Dad, Justin, me, Drew, Melissa, Grandmother, Uncle Bob, Trish, Brent, Uncle Steve, and Clare....oh, and Melissa's new Jack Russell Terrier, Layla. Whew! Ever since I was little, we've always had a tradition of opening our presents on Christmas Eve night. It's a lot of fun, but a little chaotic at times. 12 people in one room (well sorta'....we have to use the entry way as an extension to the living room); presents making their way from under the tree to their rightful owners; wrapping paper, tissue, and bows flying through the air; people holding up gifts asking, "who is this one from?".....it's insane over there! But when it's all said and done, it's always a blessing to know that we have family, friends, food, and a warm place to celebrate Christmas. Mom and Dad got us a great gift this year; a digital HD Camcorder! It is definitely something that will be coming in handy in the very near future. We have 3 months to learn how to use it....hopefully that will be a sufficient amount of time. :)

We have had a running joke in our family since the days that Drew attended Euper Lane Elementary. (He is now 20, so that's been quite a while). I can't remember the whole story, but he came home one day talking about some kid in class with "School Cheese" on his shirt (ya' know, the kind of saucy, nacho cheese that gets under your fingernails and all over your clothes?) I am not sure why at the time we found the term "School Cheese" so hilarious....we just did. So from that point on, our family has made random references to "School Cheese." Dad and I decided that we would get Drew some "School Cheese" for Christmas as a gag gift. I went to the store and bought the industrial sized can of Jalapeno Nacho Cheese, used my Microsoft Word Art skills and created a new label to put over the word "Jalapeno." The end result was priceless. (By the way, this is just one of those "you had to be there" moments,so if you aren't laughing like I am, I totally understand.)

December 25th, Christmas Day, was spent at the Scarlet household this year. We stuffed our faces FULL of turkey, beef roast, pork roast, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes and green beans, and some of that cranberry sauce from a can (I ate a TON of cranberry sauce, that stuff is GOOD!). After we were good and miserable, it was time to open presents! I came out of the kitchen and on the dining room table was my first gift: Christmas Birdhouse! LOL!! Terry, Justin's dad, has been making bird houses. It's his latest hobby. Last time we were over there, I told him he needed to make a Christmas birdhouse, equipped with decorations and all! Well, sure enough, he did, and now I am the proud owner of this Griswold style bird mansion! And, NO, you CAN'T have it! :)

Justin handmade Karen a "Go Hogs Go" sign to hang in Baby Connor's room at her house. She also got a Garmin navigation system, but by the looks on her face, you can definitely tell which gift was her favorite. I love it :)

After Terry and I opened our presents, it was time for Justin to go on the Christmas Present Hunt of a lifetime! Karen had one gift for him under the tree, and in it was a pair of headlight guards for the jeep, and a set of rules for the rest of the game :) He had 8 presents hidden in various places in the house, and when he found one, he had to bring it back to the living room to open it. He said this was one of the most fun Christmas' ever. Here are some pics:

After leaving the Scarlet's, we went back to my parent's house to get our stockings! I have always loved stocking stuffers. This time around, it was only immediate family, and mom was in her PJ's. Can't say I blame her...I would have put mine on if I would have known that was the dress code! Mom made lasagna, but we were both so full from lunch, that we had to take ours home. We enjoyed Christmas with our loved ones, and we can't wait to celebrate next year with our little extension to the family!

December 26th, the day after Christmas, my friends and I had a girls lunch at Cheddar's. We exchanged gifts and went shopping afterwards. I don't get out much with the girls, so this was a TON of fun!! Thanks to Stephanie for putting it all together :) Great idea!! We have decided to make a yearly tradition of it. Here are a few pics:

Clockwise: Stephanie, me, Crystal, and Stacey

Crystal LOVES her Hogs!

Stacey won't forget her name anymore when she's putting on her make-up!

This bag will definitely come in Handy! Thanks, Steph!

Nope, that's not cleavage. Kind of looks like it at first glance though.....

Steph will be warm and fuzzy in her new cashmere wrap from Crystal!

Steph and I think Stacey was trying to tell us something...lol!

December 28th, 2008. I leave you with 2 more fun Holiday pictures! The first one is a picture of me with most of the gifts I received from my friends. Crystal got me the warm and cozy scarf and hat, Stacey made the delicious candy in the red tub and gave me the Berry Kiss body wash, and Steph gave me the awesome razorback bag. I couldn't help myself...I'm a dork, I know. :) The second one is how Abbey fell asleep with her head on top of Rosco's head after a long and exhausting Christmas.....aren't they just the sweetest things :) HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

It's the most WONDERFUL tiiiiiiiiime of the year!

WOW! Christmas is sneaking up FAST! We have been SO busy getting ready for the Holiday's, and I have been bad about updating our blog. I hope Santa doesn't find out! :)

IN THE SPIRIT OF GOING GREEN, I decided to recycle our Pier One bags into gift bags! Below is a picture of my wonderful creations! Time consuming, yes......fun, ABSOLUTELY! Mom says my maternal side is kicking in. :)

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE! Check out our Christmas decorations! We have a 7 ft tree, and when we put it in the urn, it becomes 10 feet tall! It touches the ceiling! We have another tree that has all of our family ornaments on it, but I don't have a picture of it (yet...). So all together, we have 3 trees in the house. The third tree is on the mantle and is done in Butterflies. Weird, maybe, but I love it! CONNOR is doing well at 25 weeks! Last Wednesday we went to the doctor for our 24 week check-up. Because of the disaster with the ultrasound pictures on our last visit, we were given another ultrasound at this visit. Connor was playing with his feet most of the time during the ultrasound. It sure was cute :) We were just in awe.... :) As of now, he is breech, meaning his head is not pointing in the downward position, and if I were to have him today, he would come out butt first. There is plenty of time for him to turn around, so no worries. :) I showed the ultrasound tech where I was feeling all of his little kicks on my right side, and she told me that his feet were on my left, and it was his HEAD that is on my right. So he is in there headbutting me?!!? Leave it to little boys :) I'm ok with it for now, but if he is headbutting me in 5 years, we are going to have to sit down and have a little conversation. :) Here is my latest picture with Connor on December 13th. Justin and I (and Connor) were headed out to a couple of Christmas parties where we ended up having a really great time. Also, I took a cheesy self picture of Justin and me because we didn't have anyone else here to take our picture in front of our tree :)
Connor also received his FIRST Christmas card and gift in the mail from his Great Grandpa Ed. It was so very sweet, and it was really cool to see something addressed to "Connor James Scarlet." We are just getting so close to his arrival, and seeing something addressed to our sweet son just makes it all the more real. Thank you, Grandpa. We sure love you! :)

THE CHRISTMAS PARTY is Saturday, so I must get to work on getting everything ready! I am off work until January 5th, and am looking forward to some much needed time with friends and family. Justin has a couple of vacation days in there between now and the first of the year, so we will have some nice time alone together as well.....we realize those days of alone time are running out, but we wouldn't change anything for the world.....just gonna' enjoy it while we can :) Hopefully I will be able to blog again soon, but if not, Merry Christmas! We love you all!

....cause I'd miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing...

Corny title, I know....haha! Connor sure is an active little boy! Here it is, 11:08pm, and I don't want to fall asleep just yet because I am just enjoying feeling my little guy kick and move. I just think it's the sweetest thing. I'm so in love :)

As far as Christmas decorating, Justin and I have accomplished a lot in the last week. Justin has all the lights up on the house, and we are almost finished decorating the big tree in the living room. We still have one more tree to do; our family tree. I just love reminiscing as we hang all the different ornaments we have collected over the years. It's so much fun!

This weekend is our last free weekend before the Christmas Chaos begins!! We have 2 Christmas parties to attend on December 13th, and we are throwing our big Christmas Bash the following weekend on the 20th. This year at our party, we are taking donations for a local Clothes Closet for kids from birth to 5 years old. Right now in Fort Smith, there is no place for parents to get help for their children when they are in need of clothing. The Western Arkansas Childcare Providers Association has started this Clothes Closet and named it KARMA; Kids Affected Reaping Moral Alliance. We hope the party will be as successful as last year's when we took donations for a local Elementary school. Below is a picture of everything we collected last year! I still can't believe it! The response was incredibly heartwarming. Ya know, it's amazing what people can do when they come together to help others....I love it.

I think I am going to lay down.....Connor is STILL going at it....I think he has the hiccups or something! Sweet Dreams~

Black Friday, Baby, and Belly

BLACK FRIDAY!!! Ya know, I just really don't get it.....completely stuffing yourself stupid, passing out from being SO full, and then getting up at the crack of dawn to stand in line, fight crowds, and escape several bouts of death from being run over in parking lots by all the crazy "I GOTTA GET TO THAT SALE" drivers? To each their own, but it's just not for me. Justin and I went and had a cup of coffee this morning, and then we drove by all the parking lots in utter amazement. The lots were so full that many people just made up their own parking spots. Around 10am, we stopped in at Michael's. The parking lot didn't look too full, so we thought we would go in and see if we could find a good deal on some entry way Christmas trees. As we were walking in, some crazy ass lady decides she doesn't want to wait in the line of traffic, so she pulls out around the cars and guns it. I swear she was doing atleast 30. I was so close to her car that I wanted to kick it! UGH! Anyway, from that point on, I knew we were doomed! We were officially caught in the middle of Black Friday! Michael's didn't have a good deal on the trees, so as we were walking away, some other crazy lady chases me down the aisle to tell me that Kohls has a MUCH better deal on the trees. Nice gesture, but still a little weird. After Michael's, we went to K-Mart. Mom said she got her trees there for $20 bucks. We walked in the front doors of K-Mart with atleast 30 other people. It was like someone opened up the flood gates! Well, no deal there either, so we thought we'd give Kohls a try.....we saw the line of cars in the parking lot, and decided that we were NOT going to have any part of that! So our mini Black Friday adventure was over (thank God!), but we still had fun together acting like we were really hardcore Black Friday shoppers. :)

CONNOR is doing well. He really enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner last night, and is looking forward to the leftovers today....oh wait, maybe that's me :) I took my OWN tupperware to Mom and Dad's last night so that I could claim some of the leftover turkey and sides. That was the best idea ever! Instead of Dad searching through the cabinets for tupperware and matching lids, then me having to wash them and decide which are theirs and which are mine, I just made it easy for everyone and brought all my own. 7 pieces to be exact! I filled up every single one of them too, AND brought home a paper plate with 3 pieces of pie! I racked up on leftovers!!! Check out the stroller we picked out! Don't you just LOVE it! Grandma Karen bought it for Connor. THANK YOU! I put it together all by myself! I told Justin I wanted to put it together, so he came in with a beer and a couple of tools. He said he needed an assembly beer, and he was SURE we would need the tools to put it together (Man stuff, ya know?). I said, "I bet you don't....I bet it all snaps together!" And sure enough, no tools necessary :) I had that thing snapped together in about 20 minutes. Justin called me "Mommy Mechanic" for the rest of the day

Here are a couple of prints I picked up for the nursery at the Holiday Market. I just love them! We are not going to go all out on Monkey's, but I thought a few would be really fun.

WE hope you all had a very good Thanksgiving, and enjoyed your time with family and friends. We are thankful for each and every one of you and the special something that you have brought to our lives.

THE HOGS are playing their final game today against LSU, so let's hope they can pull off a miracle! GO HOGS!

I can't wait until our little man gets to wear this. Isn't it sweet?

THE BELLY is getting big for sure! Here is a picture of Connor at 22 Weeks! A lot of people (including myself) thought I was having a girl because I was "carrying high." Boy were we wrong! :)

Connor James Scarlet.....has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?

Well, here it is....Monday. Justin and I started back to work today after a much needed week off. The best part about it is that we only have to work 3 days this week! What a way to slowly ease back into work. :)

So 2 days after the fiasco of trying to laminate the ultrasound pics, I was in a customer's office telling the sad, sad story of the lost ultrasound images. I was going on and on about how devastated Justin was, and how were were both so disappointed that we lost the pictures. About that time, the ultrasound tech from the office perked up and said, "You lost your images?! I would love to make you some more!" I got really emotional and overwhelmed with total and complete happiness! I kept asking her, "Are you sure? Is it ok??" She assured me that everything was ok, and that she LOVES to see babies since all she sees anymore is prostates....HAHA! She is the ultrasound tech in a urology office. She used to work in the hospital, so she did babies all the time and she really misses it. We were in the exam room for a good 30 minutes or so, just watching him and trying to get the perfect pictures. To be honest, she gave us much better images than the tech in my OB's office! When we were done, I gave her the biggest hug and told her how very much I appreciated her doing this for us, and that Justin would be THRILLED! And he was! It was so sweet to see the look on his face when he saw that we had new pictures of Baby Scarlet, who's name is now officially Connor James Scarlet. Below are some of the pictures of our sweet baby Connor.

Here he is yawning....he was worn out from taking so many pictures.

Here is a very clear picture of his "Boyness." There is no denying that he is a little boy!

I just love this picture of his little feet! Aren't they just precious?

Here is a picture of Connor's little face. He is smiling!

We accomplished a lot on our week off! Monday we registered at Target. I forgot how much work it is to register for stuff! Last time we did it was over 3 years ago when we were getting married! I thought we would just go knock it out in 45 minutes or so.....I was way off! It was 2 hours later before we left. Tuesday we spent the WHOLE day shopping in Tulsa! Macy's was having the best sale EVER, so we did lots of Christmas shopping and picked up a few things for little Connor. We also did a little shopping and registering at Babies R Us. Wednesday, Justin and his dad put together the crib. It it the most beautiful crib I have ever seen! I will get pictures up real soon. Thursday and Friday I went shopping at the Holiday Market here in Fort Smith. I picked up a couple of really cute monkey prints for the nursery. Justin and his mom worked on getting the carpet clean in the baby's room. Boy, was it NASTY! It's amazing what you can pull out of your carpet with a steam cleaner....WOW! We haven't used that room much since we moved in, so it needed a little TLC. Saturday, I put together Connor's stroller and safe seat. Justin called me "Mommy Mechanic." Really, it was all snap together, so it wasn't hard at all. Oh, and Justin put the Christmas tree up! YAY! I love having the tree up.....there's just something so peaceful about a Christmas tree. We have also chosen the bedding, so I will be getting that ordered this week for sure. Things are coming right along, and we are loving every single minute of it. Connor is really active these days. He is starting to kick a lot, and I am starting to feel it ALL the time! I usually feel him at night....particularly around midnight, and again at 5am. I believe he is preparing me for his sleeping schedule. Looks like he might be a morning person, guess that means I will have to become one :)

We are looking forward to spending time with our families this week, and I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving pregnant. Seconds without a second thought....that's my kind of Turkey Day! We are very thankful for our family and friends who offer so much love and support to us on a daily basis. We are so very blessed to have each of you in our lives, and we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. God Bless