So In Love

Lily Katherine Spivey 8 lbs 5 oz. 21 inches

We are so in love with this sweet baby girl. She is perfect in our eyes. Thank you for your prayers...we are loving getting to know her. The delivery was perfect- could not have gone any more smoothly. Praising God for His kindness toward us. More to come on the birth story later!!

Baby Girl

I am at the hospital...it is in the middle of the night, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this sweet baby girl today. I just wanted to put down a few thoughts before we actually meet her.

When I first found out that we were going to have a girl, I had so much anxiety. I was up most of the night that night worrying and then my emotions were a little all over the place the next day. I never ever thought we would have a girl. I just pictured all boys in my head. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited that the Lord decided to bless us with a girl. I just felt overwhelmed. I think the reason is because I think it will be harder to raise a little girl (I know that's not true). But all of a sudden, I was worrying about when she's 16 and wants to date boys, etc. etc. It all flooded at once : ) Thankfully, a sweet friend reminded me that when you bring home a newborn baby girl from the hospital, she is basically the same as a newborn baby boy, and that the Lord will teach me the rest. Such great advice. I can tend to let my mind and worrying get ahead of me- and the Lord. So, now we have known for several months that this new life inside of me is a little girl Spivey, and we are so excited. Here are a few things that I am excited about:

• The opportunity to watch Matt be a daddy to a little girl. I've always said that I thought he'd be a great dad for a little girl. He is stable. He is kind. He is patient. He will be a tremendous instrument in showing her the Love of her Heavenly Father. I can't wait to watch it.
• The fact that one day, when she's all grown up, she will be my friend. Boys don't always call their moms for advice...at some point, that stops for most. But girls with good relationships with their moms grow up to be their friend. I pray that God will foster that relationship for us.
• The opportunity to see Hudson and Micah be big brothers to a baby sister. My heart swells just thinking about it. Micah calls her baby "willie" because he can't say Lily. I LOVE it...it is so sweet to me. I know that she will be a well protected little girl.

I am overwhelmed at the Lord's kindness and goodness to us. Children are a blessing from His hand and I don't take that lightly. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for this baby girl.

So, sweet girl, this is for you. I pray that you will always know how much we love you. I pray that you will come to know the Lord at a young age- and that you never remember a day that you didn't walk with Him. I pray that you will be so rooted in his Love for you that you will be secure and stable in who He has made you to be.

Why?

Why is it that people feel the freedom to say WHATEVER THEY WANT when you're pregnant??? I mean, seriously. Here are a couple of recent conversations that I've had. Hope you enjoy.

Last night...AT Walmart:
Random man in motorized wheelchair blocks me in...
Man: "Young lady! How much longer do you have??"
Me: "Umm...I don't know. Maybe 2 weeks?"
Man: Shaking his head adamantly while staring at my belly, "No. No. You won't make it two weeks."
Me: Smiling the fake smile. Surely he knows he should move out of my way at this point. "Ok. I hope you're right. I'm ready."
Man: "If I was gettin' in an elevator with you right now, I'd be nervous."
Me: Speechless.
Man: "Is this your first?"
Me: "No. Third."
Man: "Know what you're having?"
Me: "A girl."
Man: "What are the others?"
Me: "Two boys." Wondering, 'How in the world is this conversation continuing??'
Man: "Well, I delivered several babies when I was in the military. And you're not gonna make it no two weeks. Me and my ex wife...we had 3 boys. Told us that third one was gonna be a girl and when my wife was delivering, the doc said 'uh-oh'. It was a boy. They went ahead and changed her status to surgical & got her tubes tied right then an there. Yep. Shore did. Insurance paid for it all."
Me: "Wow. Well, we'll see."
WHAT THE??? I mean, am I that enormous??? I can't handle the stares that come lat the end of pregnancy. Seriously. I think I'm gonna let the tears flow for the next person that says something...and maybe tell them I'm terrified to give birth. I don't know. I've gotta get back to the winning side of this game. The next two are out of the mouth of Hudson Spivey. Love him. He. Is. Hilarious.

On the way inside our house:
Hudson: "Mommy! Baby Lily's gettin' big!!"
Me: "Yep. She sure is." Under my breath, "I'm enormous.".
Hudson: "Mommy...you're not enormous. You're not. You're really not. Baby Lily's just gettin' big."

In the van about a week ago:
Hudson: "Hey, mommy."
Me: "Yeah?"
Hudson: "How is baby Lily gonna get out of your tummy??" "Is she gonna come out your MOUTH???"
Me: "Um, no buddy, she's not gonna come out of my mouth." Matt is losing it at this point- glad he thinks this is so hilarious... "When it's time for Lily to be born, God will get her out."
Hudson: "Yeah. But HOW?"
Me: "It's a miracle, buddy. A miracle." Ummm....how in the world do I answer that? I considered telling the truth. Seriously. That's where I'm at.
Hudson: "Mommy, Lily's gettin' big...and I think when she comes out your tummy, your tummy's gonna just be all big and floppy."
Me: Dumbfounded. "You are a smart boy, Hudson. You're absolutely right. My tummy is gonna be all big and floppy." "But, hey. When baby Lily comes out, could you not tell me that then, because it'll probably hurt mommy's feelings."
W.O.W. This conversation really happened. Seriously.

Ok, last one. This one happened at the boys' school last week.
Random mom: "Oh, wow. I thought it was time for you to have the baby already."
Me: "Nope. Haven't had her yet." Land of the OBVIOUS. Clearly, not yet.
What in the heck am I supposed to say to that??????? I mean, a) If I'm past my due date, then I don't want to hear that YOU, random lady, thought I would've had her by now. Clearly, I have not. and b) if I'm not past due, then that was a jerk-face thing to say. So, don't say it. Can you sense my frustration? Maybe I should just hibernate til baby girl makes her arrival. Maybe???

On a happy note, we are WAY excited to meet her. I can't believe all this pink in my house. I still don't know what I'm gonna do with a baby girl, but I'm very excited. I do plan to catch up a bit on how I'm feeling about a sweet girl, and a couple of birthdays that have happened in our house. Soon!

Our Christmas Traditions

I wanted to go ahead and document our Christmas Traditions while it is still fresh : ) I never really blogged about it last year...I think because I was afraid of some judgment because of the way we do things. So, anyways, don't judge me. I know that we celebrate differently than some of you...and I'm ok with that. Hoping you will be too!

First, we made the decision last year that Santa wasn't going to be a big part of our Christmas tradition. I just couldn't reconcile that Santa has nothing to do with Jesus' birth and all in all I don't want my boys to be confused about why Christmas is so exciting. I want them to talk to Jesus when they are in bed at night- because He hears them. I want them to pour out their heart to him. Sometimes when it's communicated that we don't "do" Santa, I feel like it sounds like we don't allow our children to have fun on Christmas, or that we don't celebrate, or that we don't give our children gifts. It makes me sad. I love Christmas. I love it, not because of Santa, but because it is a celebration of a long awaited Saviour. A Saviour that has radically changed my life...and that makes me very, very excited. It is wonderful, and magical. I can't fathom why He would do that for me. But I am oh so thankful. So, anyways, that is my reason. And this next paragraph is going to be for my boys...in hopes that one day they read this blog.

My sweet, precious boys. I love you so much, and I want you to know why we decided to celebrate Christmas in this particular way. We decided it because we love Jesus...and it is our hope that above anything else, one day you will love Him too. He is the Gift and the Giver, and I pray that you will love Him with your whole heart. I know that in your young years, you will miss out on some of the magic that is called Santa. And it is my heartfelt prayer that when you look back you don't feel that you missed out, but that you feel you gained a deep, deep appreciation for a Saviour and a joy that is rooted in His love. I pray that the way your daddy and I live our lives in front of you day-to-day points you to this Saviour all year long. I want you to know that we are not keeping the Santa tradition from you because we don't want you to have fun...I hope that you know that we gave you different Christmas traditions in the hopes that your joy would be grounded in what is real. Jesus is real. Christmas is wonderful and exciting and magical and glorious. I hope you feel it. I hope you take great joy in it. And I hope that after all the gift-giving, you will be men that have deeply thankful hearts for the gift of Jesus, and men that are generous and display a heart that knows that it is truly more blessed to give than to receive. I love you, Your Mommy.
Whoosh. Now I am crying. Here is a lighter version of some of the traditions we have.

On Christmas Eve this year, we let the day be all about giving. The boys made Christmas cards for their friends and I made cookies and we took them to deliver them. We talked about Saint Nicholas, that he was a real, merciful, generous person. He gave gifts. So, we let the boys give gifts to their friends. It was so fun. Matt and I had Starbucks...yum. Super fun. Then we continued a family tradition of Matt's and had Pizza for a Christmas Eve Dinner...Uncle Mark and Aunt Tina came over to join us.

The boys opened one gift- matching pajamas.I wrapped Christmas books and the week leading up to Christmas, the boys got to pick out a wrapped book each night and open it. They had a lot of fun with it.

Uncle Mark and Aunt Tina read their Christmas book on Christmas Eve. Then, we all loaded up and drove around looking at Christmas lights. The boys LOVED it!! Then we sprinkled some reindeer food on the front lawn (we let the boys pretend, they just know that we are pretending).

Christmas morning started off with presents. Our tradition is for the boys to get 3 presents each because that is what Jesus got on the day of His birth. It's fun. This year I worried that I wasn't getting them enough...thankfully, a friend reminded me that they are blessed and have plenty. Very true. Here is Micah opening his first present- a baseball helmet! Hudson really, really wanted a helmet, so we decided to get them both one.

Hudson was pumped.

They were a little too small. Woops. We had to exchange them. Boys with big heads.

Hudson opening his tent.

They both got Cars watches.

This is the leggo table that we got them. It was their big "together" gift. They love it.

All the boys in the tent : ) What a great dad.

And then the last book I had wrapped under the tree was the Bible. Matt read the Christmas story to us all. It was beautiful.

Later in the day I let the boys "help" me make birthday cupcakes for Jesus' birth. Then we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed. This was so much fun for 2 little boys.

They got to decorate their cupcakes...and added crushed peppermint for a Christmas twist.

Hudson's creation.

Our last event of the day was to have a big Christmas meal- ham, dressing, green beans, etc., and we had a family over for dinner. All in all, it was awesome. We continued a family tradition of breakfast casserole for Christmas breakfast. Matt and I loved it...the boys didn't love the casserole. Oh well. I pray we have many, many more years together celebrating and making family traditions.

Oh, How I Do Love Fall

For all of our marriage, fall has been a super fun time and a sad time altogether. Usually Matt is up to his neck in basketball and then the time changes and it starts getting dark at 5:00...that equals hours that I need to entertain our kids AFTER dark. Well, after the job change this year, Matt was home more in the afternoons. Wow. Amazing. I didn't realize what I was missing.

Here are the boys carving our pumpkin with daddy.Ya think he's excited??
I think pumpkins are one of the main reasons I love fall!! I love all things pumpkin...homemade pumpkin soup is my favorite. Yum. But I also love pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice coffee, etc. etc. etc. I love using all the yumminess after the carving for some homemade goodies.

We went to a halloween party at one of Hudson's friends' house. This is their best "mean" face!

Hudson was adamant about being a Pirate this year. So cute.

Our little small pirate. I could eat those cheeks.

Here are a couple of girls I've been hanging out with. They LOVED the hot chocolate at the Church 'Cars with Candy' event. Who am I kidding? So did I.

The boys enjoyed WAY too much candy. Micah didn't put any in his little pumpkin, he just walked around, played a game, and ate the piece he got. When he needed another piece, he played another game. Awesome.

Isn't this awesome?? I love Matt Spivey. A couple of years ago he was a pirate for VBS...so when the boys said they wanted to be Pirates, he was all for it. He dressed up too and took care of our game at the Cars with Candy event. Hilarious. Awesome. What a great dad. One day it won't be cool for him to dress up with the boys...until then, I'm sure he'll take full advantage : )

Top 10 Things

That I want to blog about...geez. I get so far behind. Oh well. Here is a little preview for the events I'd like to document over the next few days. Anyone want to catch up on the Spivey family??? Hope you're still there!

HALLOWEEN - Super fun having daddy home this year. I love all things pumpkin...not necessarily Halloween, but we had a great time. Baby Shepard's Arrival!! My sweet friend Annie gave birth to her 4th child, Shepard. It was so precious. So thankful for her as a friend. And this little man is a DOLL. Christmas Tree Farm- We picked out our Christmas Tree the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So fun...even though it was 80 degrees outside. Seriously. Hudson is FIVE! What? Man, where has the time gone? I can't believe my baby is five. That seems so old. I can't wait to share all about my sweet boy and how we celebrated him this year.Parenting Woes- Yeah, I have a few woes to share. Had several issues over the past few weeks. I guess this will forever be my life. Community Group Christmas Party- I love this group. I am so thankful for them. We had a blast getting together for a little Christmas partying. Hudson's Christmas Program- My boys are so grown up. Hudson had a program & Micah had a party. They loved it...and I love their school. Christmas Family Traditions- I LOVE Christmas. Love it. And this year was no disappointment. We started several new family traditions to add to the ones we already had. And I love that. I love traditions. Did I say LOVE? Well, I do. We celebrate Christmas in a very specific way. I'd love to explain on here...not necessarily for advice, but so my boys will know that their mommy and daddy put lots of thought and prayer into how to celebrate Jesus' birth with them. I am certain we are messing it up somehow, but we care and we are seeking Him on it. Sweet Baby Girl- Whoosh. I need to share some thoughts on having this new addition : ) I'll just say that I was up most of the night that we revealed she was a girl...whoosh. I worried ALL night about having a girl. I'll fill in the details later. I'm very excited, but overwhelmed at the same time. Thankful to the Lord for entrusting us with a baby girl.

A Legacy- Matt's grandmother, GrandMary, went to be with Jesus a couple of weeks ago. I have so wanted to post about her legacy. She was a woman that loved Jesus. Both of her children walk with Him, her grandchildren. I can't wait to honor her with a post about how she left a legacy.

So, there you have it! I will get started tomorrow!

It's a.....

GIRL!!!
We. Are. Shocked. Aaand very excited!!! This little girl tried her best to not let us know...she kept her legs crossed almost the entire time! Finally she showed the secret!

We are so so excited to see a healthy baby- and I'm gonna have to get my mind wrapped around her being a girl.

Here are some pics from the reveal:

A few of the girls...thanks for making it special!

I love this picture...Katie, this might be 'best day of your life' pose. The cake. I loved it. I picked boy...Matt picked girl. Hence, the pink and blue : ) Table full of my cravings: apples & caramel, cucumbers & ranch, cheese ball, sausage balls.
Against my better judgment, 19 week pregnancy belly.