Amy came to visit!

In the last couple of weeks before Kyle came home, my oldest and VERY dear friend came to visit!  (I can honestly say she is my oldest friend.  Not like that, we are the same age.  But we have known each other and been friends since we were 2!)  It was so great that she could come out on her time off in between school and work - she just graduated from law school, and that is kind of an understatement: she kicked law school's butt!, and just started her new career.  It was so amazing to see her and spend some time with her!

On the first day she was here, we went on a carriage tour of downtown, walked through the old slave market (this is not where they sold slaves, but where they came to buy produce and other stuff), and walked around parts of downtown that our carriage tour didn't take us down.  On day 2, we went to the beach.  It was such a nice, relaxing day to just sit and chat and enjoy some really beautiful weather.  The last day we went to Middleton Place, which I had never been to before either.  It was beautiful!  Definitely worth the (kind of) high price of admission.  Oh, and we ate lots of yummy food of course.  Naturally, I didn't take pictures of most of these occasions (I really am trying to get better about this!).  I did take pictures at Middleton, so here are some of those:

Amy and I

The reflecting pool

View of the Ashley River where the original house stood.  The Union army burned it after the Civil War and an earthquake leveled what was left.  It was a 3 story, very impressive house.

The gentleman's quarters that the family later used for the main dwelling after the earthquake.

It was such a great visit, even though it was short.  I had so much fun with such a special friend!

Keep reading.  Another (and very important) post is below!

So its been a while.

And even then I was behind.  Truthfully, it has gotten to the point where I can't really make any more posts without posting this one first.

Most of you are already aware of this, but in case you aren't, Kyle and I are very excited to say that we are expecting a little boy in August!  Having said that, here he is:

(If you can't really tell what you are looking at, its ok.  On the left side of the picture is his chest and abdomen and the little round thing above that and to the right is his face with a hand next to it.  He is laying sideways, maybe that helps.)

I am now a day shy of 26 weeks and I feel good.  Physically, this pregnancy has been relatively easy.  I didn't really get sick at all, and besides being tired a lot in the first trimester I have felt really good.  Mentally, it has been kind of difficult.  Kyle left on his deployment not even 2 weeks after we found out, so up until my last appointment, he was gone.  I have had anxiety anyway, and with him being gone it was that much harder.  But everything seems to be going well and it is so nice to have Kyle back.  I have also had requests from some to see my belly.  The latest one I have is me on Mothers Day (at 24 weeks):

We weren't actually going out for Mothers Day per se, we were on vacation in DC and this was our last night there before we headed off to TX.  It just so happens it was on mothers day.

We are thrilled and would appreciate prayers for the safe and healthy arrival of this little boy.  In case you were wondering, no we don't have a name yet.  We didn't even start talking about that until Kyle got home, and well lets just say its hard.  We will keep you updated on the goings on with our little guy!