CONNELL TALES

Pedicures with Jenny and Addalee

2012-02-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

Jenny and Addalee treated me to a sweet pedicure last Saturday morning.

I had such a fun time getting to chat with them

all while someone tended to my toes that had become hard to reach.

So thankful for these two girls

and I can't wait for more "girl" dates in the future!

Now, that my toes are pretty in pink (hello baby girl!)

I'm ready to go!

xoxo

Elizabeth's Nursery

2012-01-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

Ready and waiting for our little girl!

xoxo

Dinner with Friends

2012-01-21T19:54:00.000-05:00

Fun times, great friends. We were celebrating Mr. JoJo's recent engagement and he was showing us his sweet digital golf game, which you can see in the background.

It was great getting to meet his wonderful fiancee and spend some time with these guys on a Friday night. Thankful for all of their friendship and am pumped to celebrate Mr. Hill's upcoming wedding with him in March.

Woopow!

Elizabeth

2012-01-19T06:46:00.003-05:00

Showing off our newly hung curtains!

We are on the count down for this baby to arrive!

As of today, she is due in 2.5 weeks...

2 AND 1/2 WEEKS!

I cannot believe it.

I've talked with her about staying in there a bit longer so I can get some things done,

but really at this point, she's welcome to come any time!

She's considered full term and that's a comforting thought.

Our world will stop for a bit when she makes her big debut...

and that's okay by me!

We're soaking up these last few days of life as the two of us,

even though she's already such a big part of it.

(I joke and say she's the best baby we've ever had! It's true...

and will be when she gets here too, I'm sure of it!)

Things I want to remember:

1. Mr. Connell calls Elizabeth "Baby E" all the time.

2.. Beth and Mom asking me everyday if my bags are packed.

(the answer is no, but I am gathering supplies!)

3. When Mom asked my little cousin, Addalee, who she wanted to pray for first,

she said Julie and Baby Elizabeth.

(We even have a three year old praying for us! and you know they have special connections.)

4. Washing all of her little newborn and 0 to 3 month clothes and blankets

in preparation of her arrival. Then Mr. Connell reminded me that we do need to do some of our own laundry sooner than later.

5. Kind people (some I know and some I don't) telling me congratulations and asking how far along I am... Many have said you can't tell I'm pregnant from behind,

but let me turn to the side a little and you will surely know!

6. Mr. Connell looking at me the other day and saying "Your belly is SMALL."

(Obviously, he was being sarcastic!)

7. Going to a birthing class... asking my friends a million questions... and reading as many books as possible... all to be ready for this little lady!

8. Crying every Sunday during the worship songs...

I am in awe of who the Lord is and this gift He has given us.

We're ready for you, little Elizabeth!

You can make your way here any day... :)

xoxo

Mothers and Daughters

2012-01-18T22:50:00.000-05:00

Chris and I are involved with some high school sophomores at our church.

He co-leads a bunch of guys and I co-lead a bunch of girls.

For "safe kids" reasons, they don't get mentioned here much... but they are a very big part of our lives.

We adore them and really cherish our friendships that we have together.

That's why it meant so much when two of the mothers wanted to do a baby shower for us.

A beautiful Mother/Daughter shower.

Everything was perfect and girly.

After dinner, we gathered in the living room for a few games:

That's before we knew the blindfolds were coming...

This is when I begin wondering why hanging out with high schoolers equates to playing "food" games.

But it does. I tried to blend in with the other mothers, but the large belly made me a prime target for eating things.

and we did.

First up for us? pears. Not so bad. None of us guessed it though.

We all thought something like applesauce.

Second up? I knew this would be bad. Beef with beef gravy.

Elizabeth,

Have no fear.

You will not have beef with beef gravy ever again.

and neither will your momma.

Amen.

Our group (minus a few)

This is more of how we all look on Small Group nights...

Elizabeth has already been deemed our SG mascot.

The girls always want to feel her move and it's been so fun sharing this time with them.

The sweet hostess mothers.

My momma with her other daughter...

There is something very special about the mother and daughter relationship.

I am so thankful for this time to celebrate with people we love over the upcoming birth of our little girl. This little girl who has already captured the hearts of her mother and father!

(and a few others I might add...)

xoxo

A Sprinkle for Laura

2012-01-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

Laura and Drew are expecting #2 very soon!

8 days after Chris and I are due to have our little bundle.

To celebrate,

we gathered with friends at our house for a sweet dessert sprinkle!

Growing little friends already...

The three of us who were all {once} pregnant together.

All of the hostesses with the guest of honor.

and lastly - the favors we had made for the party...

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them,

for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

So glad to celebrate with such sweet friends!

xoxo

Happy Birthday soon to be Grandmother Nattie!

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

Natalie's birthday was extra special this year...

Not only did she get to celebrate with all the family in town from Birmingham

- (who doesn't love a big table full of family?!) -

but it was also the night Alabama beat LSU for the National Championship!

A great day for this Crimson Tide family!

xoxo

Happy Birthday, little River!

2012-01-08T15:57:00.000-05:00

How quickly two years have gone by!

We were so glad to celebrate with family over the second year of River's beautiful life...

Now, here's to waiting for the little sister or brother that will soon be coming for Mr. Riv!

Yegi is expecting!

xoxo

Women's Baby Shower

2012-01-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Aren't baby showers one of the sweetest things?

Baby pink or baby blue doesn't matter at all to me,

but I'm in love with this little girl pink for our baby...

Several sweet ladies who are close friends with my mother in law, Natalie,

(many of which who have watched my husband grow up)

threw us a beautiful baby shower.

Family and friends blessed us with their company

and showered us with lots of love and gifts.

It was such a wonderful day!

After a prayer was said for the meal and baby Elizabeth,
there was a red "You're special" plate waiting for me in the food line.
What a perfect little detail to the day!

For the present opening portion,
I was lucky to have some small assistants...

Addalee holding a cute little baby doll Nana got for Elizabeth...

and sweet Rebecca with a dress Gran gave.

Addalee at three years old is now a pro at opening presents.

She went from present to present showing me exactly what was in it!

I was grateful for the help {and for the distraction from me!}...

luckily, Addalee and I had Rebecca to help us keep things in order!

It was out of hand for a while!

It's funny to see these pictures of my now very large belly.

The belly that makes it a bit harder to bend over...

I looked at these for a while wondering how she had gotten so big!

We're only a few weeks away here from her debut

and we're all grateful for baby who is growing right on track!

I'm also grateful for all the people who are celebrating with us!

Natalie and I with the sweet hostesses who did such a wonderful shower for us!

xoxo

Celebrating New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T16:34:00.000-05:00

For New Year's Eve,

the Kehne's sweetly had several friends over for a fun gathering!

We had a great time catching up with friends and meeting new ones...

the times have changed though for Mr. Connell and I because we didn't make it out past 10:30.

He actually gave me my new year's kiss at 11:30pm

when we both decided we couldn't stay up any longer!

Mr. Connell first called me on New Year's Eve four years ago...

It's hard to believe it's been that long, but I am so thankful for these past four years!

Now, to many more...!

xoxo

Christmas with Mamaw

2011-12-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

A few days after the holiday,

Rogersville was calling our name.

We wanted to see my sweet Mamaw!

Mamaw and her three sons.

Everyone brought a little something to eat for lunch

and we spent the afternoon visiting with each other.

It was so good to be together!

Mamaw hadn't seen my baby belly yet

and she talked about how excited she is about Elizabeth coming.

I'm pretty excited myself!

The clock is ticking...

It was so special when Annie gave us the present she had for the baby...

She crocheted these by hand.. A baby blanket, hat, and booties!

They were so thoughtful and special... I can't wait to use them on our baby!!

What a great day with family!

xoxo

Cell phone pics of lately...

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

I call that photo "parking with pride."

and gratefulness when the parking lot is full.

Mr. Connell and I met up with Beth and Will for dinner and some Christmas shopping.

The night did not disappoint!

The ribbon wreath for above E's crib is d-o-n-e.

and I love it!

Macy on her way to her grandparents' house for Christmas Eve festivities.

Mr. Connell is sporting one of his new shirts Katie got him for Christmas.

I need a better cell phone camera.

Amen.

xoxo

A Connell Christmas Day

2011-12-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

Christmas at the Connellios.

We had a fun morning attending church with Mom and Dad at Hardin Valley COC and then returned home for a wonderful photo session. My lovely wife Jules can operate any camera and operate it well, I am convinced.

Afterwards, we continued the excitement over a great meal and opening of the gifts.

Everyone had a very enjoyable and relaxing time.

To top off the day, we ended up watching old home movies/videos. Listening to my voice on camera, I realized that I was more of a Southern sounding kid from the Alabama days than I recalled.

We loved Christmas time 2011.

God has blessed us very much so, and we are super excited about our countdown to meeting baby E!

Woopow!

A Turner Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T18:16:00.000-05:00

We spent Christmas Eve this year in Morristown at my parents' house.

Mom has her tree right as you walk in her house. As the children arrived, they couldn't seem to get past it and kept surveying all the presents under it.

At least until it was time to eat!

They finally pulled themselves away for the delicious Christmas meal waiting on us...

The fam goes all out with the food.

No one goes hungry!

J. putting on a little post dinner concert for us.

Addalee wanted to do the same,

so once J. was done, she sang a little song.

It didn't last too long because they were ready for the big present opening section of the day.

The full scene:

How fun is it watching little kids opening presents?

I remember when we were the kids,

ripping through the paper to see what presents were waiting for us.

Our family always made it special

and still is...

Speaking of special,

Chris and Will made J.'s Christmas by getting him, not only one, but two whoopie cushions:

What was even better was seeing the other kids love it as well.

River didn't get the hang of just putting his bottom on it,

but rather would face plant into it. We couldn't help but get a big kick out of them!

I wonder if they've already made a disappearing act... :)

Will and Beth prior to leaving for the Christmas Eve church service.

It's a tradition for our little family.

Our family.

Us with the awesome bag of goodies Sonya got for baby Elizabeth.

Even though our little baby is still in utero,

Sonya and Nana sweetly gave her great presents...

It makes me excited for next year when she'll be out and about with us!

Thankful for another Christmas holiday

to celebrate the Savior's birth...

He has given us so much.

xoxo

Merry Christmas from us to you!

2011-12-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

As all the little children are snug in their beds (just like me!),

I'm thankful for this Christmas Eve.

We spent our day with my side of the family and will be heading to Chris' tomorrow.

There is so much to be grateful for...

Our sweet families.

Yummy food and the hands that prepare it.

Laughing with those you love.

Health and well being for our people.

Being able to give gifts and those who are generous to give to us.

Knowing well that all good things come from the GIVER.

Our reason for this celebration season.

Jesus Christ.

He came as a baby and God set His plan for our salvation into action.

Humbly He came - to be born in a stable. Our King.

Today we are 6 weeks away from Baby Elizabeth's due date.

I can't help but think of Mary and her side of this story.

With a two day ride on a donkey, no wonder she went into labor! Chris is my husband and where he goes I will go... but I wonder if I would follow a "soon to be husband" to a town days away while greatly with child. But she did. Mary was sure of the Lord's plan and knew the baby she was carrying was the Son of God. What trust she had to know that God would work it all out... and then she had her baby. Jesus. (in a barn, mind you) As she cradled her child, what went through her mind? I can only imagine it's what every parent who holds their child for the first time feels - an overwhelming love. and like many parents she probably wondered about His future. His future that included His death and resurrection, which held our salvation.

The baby that changes everything.

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 1:29

Chris and I are so thankful for this 2011 Christmas and can't wait for more!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

xoxo

Live Nativity

2011-12-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

In celebration of Christmas, my Bible study group and our families decided to attend

the live Nativity production at the Civic Colosseum.

We met first for dinner at Sergeant's Pizza and then headed downtown for this...

The show had started, so we snuck into our seats in the dark.

But what a production it was!

There were so many people in it and the set was incredible.

There's our group, minus Laura and Drew who had already gone to take little Kaitlyn home to bed.

Such a wonderful way to celebrate the meaning of this season -

the birth of our Savior, Jesus!

xoxo

Couples Baby Shower

2011-12-17T18:24:00.000-05:00

My Women's Bible Study

{Annie, Emily, me, Allison, Laura, and Emily}

The sweet girls that I do Bible Study with rounded up their husbands and decided to throw Chris and I a beautiful couples baby shower. Laura and Drew kindly invited everyone to their lovely home... When choosing a date, the best one that came up was actually on my birthday.

I couldn't ask for a better birthday present than to celebrate this little life growing inside of me, especially with our dear friends!

Three of the six of us are pregnant. Emily is 5 weeks ahead of me (coming very soon!) and Laura is only about a week after. Going through this together has been such a treat! we've almost experienced all that pregnancy has to offer at roughly the same time... sharing the beauty of it all with each other. and now, as our time is {quickly} coming to an end, I'm excited to see these little lives grow up together.

Speaking of growing up together...

Having a child makes you an official grown up (or it definitely should).

We're less than 6 weeks away now from Elizabeth's due date...

-ready or not! Here she comes!-

In the world of being ready, I cannot wait to meet her.

There's a lot left to do before she gets here with work, the nursery, our house on the market,

but all that pales in comparison to actually snuzzling her face to face!

Back to our celebration:

While all the ladies were upstairs with me...

...the men were down in Drew's man cave,

rockin' out on RockBand and playing ping pong.

By the end of the night, one of the now sweaty guys declared it was

"the best baby shower" he had been to.

In the world of guys and showers,

I couldn't agree with him more!

Chris and I were so honored by this celebration!

Thank you for celebrating with us over our coming baby. We've divided up our people for these fun showers, so stay tuned for more!

We are overwhelmed by the love.

xoxo

29

2011-12-16T21:25:00.000-05:00

I turned the big 29 on December 9th.

There is so much to be thankful for on this birthday of mine...

Let's see - to celebrate:

My sister, Beth, and I had a joint family celebration at Brazeiros.

Chris' parents made a yummy birthday dinner earlier in the week.

Beth (and Anna) decorated my office,

including bedazzling everything they could find with jewels.

She even came by on her day off with birthday pound cake.

Mom treated me to a birthday lunch at Tara's Tea Room.

Some of our dearest friends threw a baby shower for us that evening

(which I will definitely have to show you pictures of).

It was a lovely day for sure!

Full of lots of people I cherish dearly...

Knowing that we had the shower on the night of my birthday,

my birthday date sweetly made romantic dinner reservations for the next night.

A surprise for me...

He gave me no hints like last year or the year before (since I'm a good guesser)

and surprised me with dinner at

The Grill at Highlands Row.

That's me thinking... I am so lucky to be the one he loves!

Oh.my.goodness was the dinner good!

The restaurant is classy... with exposed ceiling beams and beautiful paintings on the walls

(ones I wanted to take home with me).

But let's be honest,

I was enjoying being with my handsome date more than anything.

We splurged on delicious steaks and even shared a piece of pecan pie for dessert.

Afterwards, he treated me to a wonderful movie - "We bought a Zoo."

(You should definitely go see it! Prepare to shed a tear or two!)

I am so thankful for such a great birthday,

but more for the people who made it great...

xoxo

Christmas at the Connells

2011-12-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas at the Connell's has officially begun!

It actually sprung two weekends ago

and I'm loving the festive look to our house!

We rearranged the furniture to add the tree to our living room.

Bumped it in the corner and switched the couch.

Now, we're all cozy!

Decorating the tree is my favorite part...

it's because I just love the ornaments. Ones we've collected and been given over time.

Mom, Sister Beth, and I actually took a bow making class this year.

That tree topper is compliments of my handy work.

I love it! (even if it's a bit big for our tree)

Those houses are from my grandmother.

They light up and look like a little village up there at night.

So glad she passed them down to me to use.

Oh and you can't forget about the stockings...

Hung with care of course!

Next year, we'll have one more to add!

I can't wait for that... or for Mr. Connell to get to be Santa

- he will be super pumped!

Nothing says Christmas like a big tree full of ornaments, a little furball to snuggle,

and (of course) a football game on tv!

Christmas is so fun!

xoxo

Titans game

2011-12-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

Guest Blogger Mr. Connellio here. This past weekend, I had the wonderful privilege of getting a call at 8:05 on Sunday morning to take a last minute road trip. Do you notice how empty the stands look in the below picture? More about that shortly....

I was fortunate to get to attend the Titans/Buccaneers game with my good friends Butch, Hunt and Car. Needless to say, it was wet, wet, wet. See the picture below for more proof.

Thanks to Butch for the phenomenal seats, as you can see below....they were outstanding!

Can you see the rain in our faces in this picture? Not visible enough.

If you want to see enthusiasm at a football game, I suggest attending with my buddy Car. There is no one who can yell louder when things go their way during a game. In this case, we were just rows away when Matt Hasselback threw the game winning touchdown to Williams and this was Car's reaction.

The day started at 8:05 and I returned back to Mrs. Connellio at 9PM. It was a great day and I was glad to be 'Andy Broome' for the day.

Maternity photos - part 2!

2011-11-30T18:10:00.000-05:00

30 weeks down - 10 more to go!

I've got so much to do to prepare and now isn't the time to get tired easily...

We've got work, photos, Christmas, friends, family, parties, presents...

ohh, and a little nursery to decorate!

but every time I think about all there is to do,

I think about the beautiful day when we get to hold her (on the outside)

and all that stuff fades away.

Everything in it's proper time, right??

*******

My sweet friend, Brianna, did it again!

If you remember, she and I worked out a little maternity swap.

I took her photos and she took ours.

We had to wait until my bump was a bit bigger...

(ideal time is around 28-32 weeks in case you're wondering)

By the time we hit 29 weeks,

Brianna was only 3 weeks away from meeting her little girl.

She was a trooper with us for sure!

We adore these sweet photos!

and just so you know,

I get a little weak in the knees looking at that handsome husband of mine...

Our growing family.

Thank you, Brianna, for such beautiful photos!

We are soooo excited about them and all the ones from the cd...

Our very first BABY shower!

2011-11-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

There is nothing like celebrating a new little life.

Especially when it's your baby...

When Dr. Regina told me she wanted to throw a shower for us,

I knew it would be special.

and special it was...

The table was full of yummy foods!

All of my favorites, of course, because the hostess is into the details.

Personally, I loved seeing Elizabeth's initials on the beautiful cake.

Who knew I loved initials so much?

Maybe it's seeing her name in print that makes her feel even closer to being here.

(But then again, I feel that way every time I get up in the middle of the night to re-adjust or go the potty.

The Lord is preparing me!)

There were so many wonderful people who came to celebrate with us...

People who love us (and we love them!)

and who are all excited about this little girl as well.

Someone told me it means so much to a mother when someone loves on her child.

It is so true.

I'm pretty sure it was my own Mom who told me that.

(She also said it hurts even worse if someone is mean to your child...

so far, we're not there yet, but I bet she's right again.)

For now, I'm basking in the love.

To all of those who came (and I'm hoping I have a photo of all of you in here!),

thank you.

It meant so much to me that you would be there to laugh and shower us with gifts.

Elizabeth is already one lucky little lady.

Speaking of gifts...

there were a bunch of them!

Disclaimer: If you don't see your gift here in a photo, it's only because I make pretty terrible candid photos. Your gift was awesome! My face probably not. Continue on please... :)

It was like Christmas morning when we pulled all the gifts out the next morning.

Mom and Beth actually came by to help me organize everything on Saturday

and we got it done lickity split!

(Nothing like having good women in the family in your time of need!)

It actually probably took us a bit longer than normal

because we couldn't get over the cuteness of it all!

More photos before we made our way home...

that's us... the two {very grateful} parents!

The end to such a lovely baby shower...

Thank you so much to the hostess with the mostess!

xoxo

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T21:16:00.001-05:00

I love Thanksgiving.

There is always something to be thankful for.

(and this year we were blessed to give thanks for our little something special

making her way to us!)

We gathered with my family on Thanksgiving Day

where our efforts combined for

one fabulous feast.

There was just about anything your heart could wish for...

my heart always lands on turkey and dressing,

so I ate my fill (and definitely enough for the baby) before making my way to the dessert spread.

Aunt Sonya opened her home to us this year...

and we filled it up with lots of family love.

Beth and Addalee...

Addalee was showing Beth that she knows more about the iPad that we do.

Little River...

who made this pose when I asked if I could take his photo.

You can also see his Momma holding her niece, baby Cole.

River was a bit confused at why his momma was holding another baby...

After lunch always brings on a post turkey rest period.

Obviously, you can see we were lounging and chatting

while the men had their eyes glued to the football game on there...

We finished the afternoon by taking photos of the little kids

- J., Addalee, River, and Cole -

for Nana and Dee's Christmas card.

Chris and I eventually pulled ourselves away and headed to Knoxville to meet his parents.

There's a little Connell tradition of going to a movie on Thanksgiving night.

After some of the Birmingham crew made it up late that night,

we celebrated the holiday with them on Friday over delicious french toast.

(Who doesn't love good french toast??)

********

It was truly a wonderful holiday!

I am so thankful for our family and these sweet traditions we have.

xoxo

Baby Elizabeth list...

2011-11-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

1. There's our most recent photo of Baby Elizabeth.

Taken at Monday's ultrasound, we are over the moon about her.

2. Sorry it's blurry,

but we are looking inside my womb.

3. Chris thinks she has my nose (well everyone who has seen this picture says the same).

I can't figure out if they mean that in a good way or not...

Either way, I think her button nose is the cutest thing ever.

4. She has Chris' cheeks and long legs and feet...

(...her feet that she had up to her big cheeks during most of the ultrasound.)

5. Granted, all of our speculation is a big guess of course, because again...

we're looking inside my belly.

6. This is a BIG weekend for us...

Our first Baby shower is tomorrow!!

It's such a blessing to be loved on by our sweet friends and family.

I've been excited about this for weeks now.

7. We're also finishing up our maternity photos Saturday morning...

I can't wait to see how they turn out!

8. Baby Elizabeth is moving a lot.

My sister talks to her and mushes on me until she can feel her.

Mr. Connell likes to jiggle the baby belly (which is not flattering for me!),

but she always seems to kick right after so we have to keep doing it.

9. So many people are excited about this sweet little girl.

I can hardly stand it myself.

10. Being pregnant is really amazing.

This little life is just growing and growing inside me...

and it's the safest place for her to be right now.

I am so honored to be her mother.

11+ weeks and counting until we see her face to face...

xoxo!

A shower for Emily

2011-11-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

My women's Bible study + some of Em's other women friends

gathered at our house for a little social time.

With baby Kobe on the way,

we just had to get together with Emily to celebrate!

It was so fun watching Emily open her presents and get little prizes to put her little baby in.

He is quickly on his way and we can't wait to meet him!

Thankful to get to celebrate with friends during such a special time!

xoxo

10 everyday photos on the 10th

2011-11-10T18:30:00.000-05:00

Here's my new project.

Once a month I'm going to take 10 everyday photos and post them on the 10th. It's not an original idea... You can read more about where I got the idea from here.

Life changes all the time. Our baby Elizabeth is quickly going to make her appearance (hello 3rd trimester this coming Saturday!) and I want to document all of this. Life being pregnant, life as wanna be parents, and then life with a precious newborn.

and I think I'm going to have fun doing it.

Here's a {rather lazy} Sunday in our lives...

Now, I have an offer if you'd like to do this as well... Part of the idea is to link to other blogs as well who are interested in doing this. One blog links to another blog and at the end we have one big blogging circle. If you're interested, let me know!

Let's make an effort to catch those everyday moments...

They're some of the best.

Happy Family

2011-11-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Oh these photos were so fun to shoot!

A blast from the past, Brett and I went to high school and college together. His wife, Lane, and I keep up via facebook and our blogs. She and I first met soon after she and Brett started dating. He needed a place for her to stay overnight (in college), so she slept on our "Blue House" couch. The rest is history for her and Brett...

This is their little girl, Julia.

When Lane asked me to take some family photos for them to make their Christmas cards,

I knew we'd have a good time making them.

Lane is super creative as well and I can't wait for those of you who know them to get your Christmas card. I won't be showing you her idea (maybe after the cards debut?), but it's really fun.

The baby cheeks are just to die for!

Julia is such a sweet happy little girl. You can tell she is a well loved little baby!

Lane and Brett definitely got a big kick out of all of the noises that I made getting little Julia to look my way. There were so many that it even made me laugh!

We met at just the right time of day to get this lovely warm sun.

I love backlit photos and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

If you're wondering, we met at 3:30pm.

Now that the time has changed, you'd want to meet a little earlier.

You may also notice the new watermark...

It's something I've been meaning to do and it turned out to be pretty easy. Until I decide on a business name (yep! It's coming!), I just used my name. Either way, you definitely want to take ownership of your photos (so someone else doesn't!). If you want a Photoshop tutorial on how to do it, check this out.

"A Happy Family Is But An Earlier Heaven"

- John Bowring

What a precious young family!

They were so sweet to say as we were leaving, had they known how much they would be over the moon in love with little Julia they would have had kids a long time ago.

and isn't that what life is all about?

Loving and being loved...

Thanks again, Lane and Brett! I hope you love these for a long time.

It was truly a pleasure!

xoxo

My love for football

2011-11-05T18:24:00.005-04:00

"My mom likes to make me sport my orange for UT game days,

but I really don't watch football.

Only when my dad does.

When he talks loudly at the tv,

the world seems to be coming to an end, so I run from the room.

Tonight, we're watching the big Alabama vs LSU.

Dad's cheering on the crimson and white.

Mom will probably be napping,

but she'll be right there with dad being the supportive wife she is.

I'll be napping with my bone."

Love,

Macy

Home sweet home

2011-11-03T19:25:00.000-04:00

I L.O.V.E. doing family photos!

It is so fun for me to get to take these pictures for families and know that I'm taking photos of

the most important people in their world.

It is an honor and a joy for me.

My friend, Allison, asked me to take some for her family. I couldn't wait!

These kids already have a special place in my heart.

Sydney and Joel.

Syd was born a month after Chris and I met, so I consider Sydney a walking example of our relationship. As you can tell, we're still young, innocent, and beautiful.

If it wasn't for the blond hair,

I would happily tell people these were my children.

We also took a bunch of photos that I just deleted from this post. I'm afraid one of them may be their Christmas card photo and that would be a terrible faux pas of me to put them on here first!

So glad I thought of that.

We'll just stick with more of them like this...

I'm pretty confident three of the 4 family members won't be left off the Christmas card photo.

Tip: Look for consistent light (try to avoid the patches of sun). If you work with bright sun, just position your people with their backs to the most of the sun and expose for their faces. You'll get the glow around their head that I personally like.

We took all of these in their front yard or right inside their house.

Drew and Allison wanted photos done of their home, so we just moved around in and out of the shade.

Having something so personal in your photos is always a great idea.

Hopefully, they'll always look back on these with a fondness when they think of their first home.

Not that they are moving, but they might one day. When that day comes, they will have these pictures of the sweet home they raised their young family in.

These babes won't always be this little.

Families grow and change,

but the love is captured in a photograph.

and one day a big sister will no longer want to sniff her brother's head...

Take pictures today for your family's tomorrow.

Thanks again, Drew and Allison! It was indeed an honor.

xoxo

Serious things and Halloween!

2011-10-30T21:25:00.000-04:00

We've gone from extreme to extreme this week...

from mourning the loss of a dear friend's son to watching the nuptials of a precious couple,

I have been reminded over and over of the power of friendships.

This life is full of beautiful things, but it's also full of the very hard. God has given us sweet relationships to help us through all of it. He promises He'll be with us and then we have the honor of being part of His reaching out to people.

On this day of Halloween,

let's remember when to take off those masks and be real with people.

*******

Now, since that was so serious, I'll leave you with this photo that is anything but serious:

Mr. Connell as Jim Carrey.

That's exactly how he left for work on Friday! His company was having fun dressing up for Halloween and everyone there wanted Jim to make an appearance.

Happy Halloween!

xoxo

Maternity swap - photos of us!

2011-10-30T18:44:00.003-04:00

Just found that Brianna posted these on her facebook page!

I couldn't wait to show you...

Hope you enjoy! More to come for sure!

Ohhh, I am so excited about these pictures, that man, and our precious baby who is on her way!

xoxo

Maternity swap

2011-10-30T18:29:00.000-04:00

Having friends who also love photography definitely has it's benefits.

A few weeks ago Brianna had a brilliant idea.

This little lady is expecting her second child and thought it would be a fun idea to do photos of each other for a maternity swap. I'd take photos of her and her family and she would do the same for me.

I couldn't think of a better idea!

Being pregnant is truly amazing. I'm in awe of how God has designed this reproduction process - how our bodies naturally grow and make room for these little souls. So, capturing this time for other mommas is so special to me.

The beauty of a glowing woman and the love of her man...

Not to mention the innocence of the first born who doesn't know how his world is about to change. For the good, of course!

It's a beautiful time for this family...

The love...

and excitement...

is magical.

and more than magical, pregnancy points to the beauty of the Lord's creation. He has designed us this way. Our creator and sustainer of life.

The One who is creating this little girl in her mother's belly.

Brianna - thank you for sweetly thinking of this!

I hope you love these photos for a long time as I know we will love the ones you create for us.

xoxo

Thankfulness

2011-10-12T18:08:00.004-04:00

I am thankful for...

for that precious baby bump in my mid-section
clothes that fit and are super comfortable
honey crisp apples and hot apple cider
the softest furball you've ever known
the golden colors of the changing trees
game day chili with close friends
the message in this Gospel video
the little nip in the air and lightweight jackets
our large and beautiful family
fall mums bursting with yellow and red
my Mr. Connell, who I know will be a wonderful daddy
quilts to cozy up in beside that Mister
the Father, who wants more for me than just my happiness (read this)
YOU

What are you thankful for?

the house we call home

2011-10-11T18:10:00.001-04:00

As I've mentioned before,

our house is on the market!

We really love this house, but the time has come for us to move on down the road.

Let's talk about it's great selling features:

a lovely open main level

5 bedrooms (which was always part of my ploy to get Chris to have 4 babies with me... I'll have to think of another game plan...)

3 full bathrooms

bonus room upstairs

laundry room

beautiful neighborhood with sidewalks (perfect for family walks!)

quality details

hardwood floors on the main level

great school zone - Sequoyah, Bearden Middle, and West High

large, private backyard that's mostly level

perfect back porch for cookouts

county - so no city taxes

Let's now talk about the only thing that has been not so nicely mentioned about it:

the driveway

We can list all of this house's finer qualities for sure, but we also want to take on the negative as well. No house is perfect and you can tell our driveway isn't exactly, well, level. Honestly, it really hasn't bothered us. The occasional ice storm kept me at home (not my husband), but we've enjoyed being higher up (rather than lower). Since the top of the driveway is level, we haven't had any trouble out of the front of it.

I know the Lord is already orchestrating the perfect buyer to come for this house, just as he is preparing our new house. I want it to be such a great house for whoever moves here...

For them to truly love it and do life (as we have) within these walls.

My home is wherever my husband + animal + child(ren) are and for that I am grateful.

A house is just a house, but family makes it home.

Our desire is for this house to be a great HOME place for one sweet family.

If you're interested or know anyone who would be,

we're having an open house this Sunday from 2-4pm!

You can check out more details about it here (we just reduced the price!)

and feel free to just come by to look or for cookies.

Help us spread the word about our lovely house!

It needs a good "home."

Allison Krauss

2011-10-10T20:11:00.000-04:00

A night on the town with Drew and Laura??

Absolutely.

It made it even better to go see Allison Krauss at the Tennessee Theatre.

We decided to go matching with Chris and Drew in their polos

and Laura and I with our baby bellies.

Such a FUN night with friends!

xoxo

Family photos

2011-10-06T18:26:00.001-04:00

Capturing moments in time

is what photography is all about for me.

It's seeing the beauty in each stage of life and freezing it.

When my friend Melissa told me what she wanted in some family photos,

I knew exactly what she was saying.

She wanted to capture her family just as they are right now.

Thomas Trains and all.

Daddy hadn't made it on the scene yet, so we focused our pictures on the boys first. In all their cuteness, sitting on their very loved Thomas train on real live train tracks. That was Melissa's idea and I couldn't have been happier with the way they turned out.

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

Marc Brown

Melissa and I share a love of taking pictures... and like most mommas, she's behind the camera more than in front of it. So one of our goals for that morning was to make sure there were lots of family (and momma with her boys) shots.

For that matter, we all need to make sure we get in front of the camera every now and then. It's important to remember and be remembered through each stage of life.

This is what life looks like for their family right now. One baby in each set of arms.

But it won't be long until Mom and Dad are a bit out numbered... #3 is on the way!

The family is both the fundamental unit of society as well as the root of culture. It ... is a perpetual source of encouragement, advocacy, assurance, and emotional refueling that empowers a child to venture with confidence into the greater world and to become all that he can be.

MARIANNE E. NEIFERT

One can easily see how precious this family is.

Two parents loving their young children with all they have.

This is another reason I love photography. I want to bottle up these emotions and feelings and project them on a blank piece of paper. Like putting paint on a canvas or words to music. With each calculated click of my camera, those beautiful moments are frozen and documented. Documented to be remembered.

What's great about the little ages of their boys is you can't force pictures.
So when they wondered away, we made a couple of their parents.

You've gotta operate on kid time...

Side note: All parental units come with 12 eyes so they had all of the other 8 on the two boys.

... but not forgetting to cultivate that beloved relationship between you and the one you love.

The one you chose.

Love is not getting, but giving... It is goodness and honor and peace and pure living. Yes, LOVE is that and it is the best thing in the world and the thing that lives the longest.
Henry Van Dyke

I had such a fun time with this family.

What they didn't know is that the day before we took these,

Mr. Connell and I found out we had one of these on the way:

In girl form of course.

They did mention little Connell babies at one point and I stumbled through with some vague answer... something about trying to talk the mister into it...

all the while glowing from the inside knowing that soon we'd tell the world of our good news.

but at that point, it was a secret for just me and my love.

Derek and Melissa -

I hope you love and treasure these photos for a long time!

It was an honor to take them.

xoxo

A (random) update if you will...

2011-10-03T18:33:00.002-04:00

1. Not looking my best, but how cute is baby Cole?! Those cheeks are even better in person.

She's already destined to be baby Elizabeth's best friend for life.

That's part of the definition of family.

2. This is the crib we {finally} decided on.

It's in my nature to spend an annoying amount of time researching A.L.L.B.I.G.P.U.R.C.H.A.S.E.S. I adore spindle cribs and probably looked at every last one of them online. This Jenny Lind spindle crib beat out all the competition in my book. Mr. Connell agreed. I wanted him to like it too (he entertains me by giving his opinion, which I do appreciate - sometimes I think he gives it just to help me commit, but I need help there too). So, when we made the purchase on Saturday (thank you, Mom and Dad!!), I know he was relieved to be done with that phase.

He now has until the 3rd week of October (when the crib should be in) to move the big bed out of the nursery room.

The decorating itch has hit.

Let's just say I'm not one to procrastinate on things such as this.

3. In case you're interested, this is the bedding I we like.

The pretty pink and ruffled bed skirt had me at hello.

If day dreams decorated rooms, the nursery would be long done.

We'll also take one of those babies there in the photo as well.

4. These are unbelievable!

via

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.

At the last pre-natal visit, my doctor told me it was time to start gaining weight.

Shouldn't be a problem now that these babies are back on the menu!

5. Granted, none of my clothes fit any more and most maternity things are a bit too big, but I really love this gift the Lord has given us. I feel those tiny movements and, if we're quick, Mr. Connell gets to feel them too. Pregnancy is really attractive. (with clothes on, of course! I'm not sure how I feel about it in my birthday suit.) It's amazing how there is this tiny baby growing stronger and stronger every day in my (getting.bigger.by.the.day) belly. It took us 10 months before we were blessed by that positive pregnancy test and I'm loving every minute of this 2nd trimester.

To those who are getting those negative signs and want to be pregnant, hang in there.

God has a plan for each of us.

Our babies will come... One way or another.

Thankfully, the Lord already knows exactly which way.

xoxo

Atlanta Adventures

2011-09-29T21:01:00.001-04:00

Between house showings, UT games, baby gender reveals, concerts (PS: Chris is playing at Don Gallo tomorrow night, Friday night!), and photo shoots, we managed to squeeze in an adventure to the land of Hot-lanta.

Our friends, Joe and Keri, were getting hitched a little south of Atlanta,

so the opportunity arose to make a few pit stops on our way.

Our plan was to hit the Pottery Barn outlet heading down there, but after a quick phone call and realization that they didn't have the crib I liked online, we abandoned that idea and went straight to our other destination. Luckily though, our plans changed (while eating one of the best chicken biscuits from Mrs. Winner's I've ever had). Our other destination... IKEA.

Good gracious! I've been wanting to go for a while and it was a good thing we gave ourselves enough time. IKEAs are HUGE. I even got lost as I searched my way back to where Mr. Connell had plopped himself down in from of a game. Note to self for the next trip: Follow the path woven through the different displays.

Our mission:

pic found here

That would be the first item we've purchased for baby Elizabeth. That and the stuffed bulldog (thanks to her father). You can only pick those up in the store, so I touched base with a couple of friends to see if they'd like one as well. Three high chairs later, we headed on our way.

Mr. Connell had another stop he wanted to make.

The home of the best hot dogs...

We ordered up some delicious dogs and fries...

and saved the orange cream shake for last!

We ate and ate and were stuffed by the time we needed to head to our main Atlanta event...

Joe and Keri's woodland wedding.

The setting was beautiful!

The guests were seated on tiers as we all watched our sweet friends get married.

The evening continued with dinner, yummy wedding cake, and lots and lots of dancing.

Chris, Joe, and the college guys...

Our other Knoxville friends who made the trip... plus a crazy Las Vegas Kellan... :)

We danced and danced late until the night! I haven't danced that much in a while... but loved every minute of it. A girl's gotta let her hair down every now and then.

That was the end of our Atlanta adventures. We had to cut the night a little short for our four hour drive home. Mr. Connell did the driving... I did the napping, at least until the last hour of the drive when I was afraid he might fall asleep. He didn't, of course, so we just talked and sang all the way home.

It was a perfect weekend.

xoxo

The first UT game of the season.

2011-09-27T22:00:00.002-04:00

You know what's even better about going to a Tennessee game?

Making a new memory of game day.

Drew and Allison sweetly invited us to join them for the first UT game of the year.

That's always one of the best games... Everyone is excited about the start of the season and the tailgaters are in full force. We were pumped!

It was about 400 degrees outside, so we waited closer to game time to make our trip to the campus. After a quick stop to visit Allison's sister, we headed to the stadium.

So did everyone else. Little did we know, there was a storm a brewin'.

and brewed it did!

About the time we made it under the stadium, a terrible storm came. The sky seemed to open up and pour out the rain. People who were already on the bleechers rapidly made their descent inside. (Who can blame them for not riding out the lightning sitting on metal bleechers?)

Everyone crammed in to the tunnels where we were. People touching on every side of your body. Once all that touching started, so did the heat. Out of no where it felt like the hottest place ever. If you weren't claustophic, that place could make you that way.

So we did what reasonable people would and made our way closer to the exit gates. The rain was still pouring so there were nice gusts of wind. and thankfully less people. The attendants had locked all the gates (not that we were going to leave in that mess) for security purposes. At one point, I stiffled the urge to yell out "JACK! JACK! I'll never let go!" The locking of the gates reminded me of the Titanic. If I could remember a good line from when the people were trapped down below, that would have been more appropriate.

We amused ourselves by taking a few photos (as seen above). You can actually get a glimpse of how many people were around us. That was the part where we had space between us.

It didn't take long to discuss our next plan. It was to get the heck outta there! Who knew when the game would start, so we abandoned our probably-awesome-but-we'll-never-know game seats and made a break for it. Dinner sounded better than what we were doing.

Since the lightning had past, we thought the rain had really slowed down. News to us, it was still going pretty hard, but we were already committed.

There we were. Running through campus in the rain! Leaping over puddles (not that it matter), hand in hand with our spouse, laughing through it all. (The hand holding was because Chris was a bit afraid of me falling. Since I'm pregnant and we were running on slick concrete, that was a good caution to have. For the record, he also just likes to hold my hand.) The gentlemen dropped us off at one of the student buildings and made the rest of the trek to the car.

Once inside, the laughter continued. We were soaking wet and remembering everyone's faces as they watched us take off through the stadium. Most normal people were huddled under shelter. and I'm sure normal people would have waited until the rain ceased.

but isn't it all about making a new memory?

Especially one we'll likely never forget!

*******

Thank you, Drew and Allison, for your sweet invite to the UT game!

Maybe next time we'll actually watch the game together. :)

Baby Reveal Dinner

2011-09-10T13:58:00.000-04:00

This is how we revealed to our families the gender of our little baby.

We made lemon cream cheese cupcakes

stuffed with little pink plastic safety pins.

Chris' parents were kind to have both sides of our immediate families over for

the BIG reveal!

Hours earlier, Chris and I found ourselves in the little exam room with the ultrasound technician.

We couldn't wait to find out the gender of our little one, but more importantly, we wanted to know he or she was healthy and developing on track. Once the technician assured us everything looked great, those sweet words passed through her lips... "it's a girl!"

Next up - we got to tell the family:

Katie and Beth did the honors of pulling apart the first cupcake.

None of us could wait until after dinner,

so this was considered an appetizer.

I'm not sure who declared it,

but obviously everyone got the message.

There is a little baby girl on her way!

After the gender reveal,

Chris and I got to share her name.

We had told everyone if she was a girl she would be named Claire and if a boy, he would be called Turner. What we didn't anticipate was seeing her on the ultrasound and knowing her name wasn't Claire... (Funny how it came to both of us and we were both in agreement - The Lord definitely granted us clarity!) I was nervous to change it after we had been so sure so long, so I told Chris it was his decision.

That evening Chris announced to the family our little girl wouldn't be named Claire as originally thought,

but rather she was going to be named

Elizabeth Kate.

Two family names and from both sides...

Elizabeth after my sister, mother, and grandmother. Their names are Beth, Betsy, and Betty - all derivatives of Elizabeth. and Kate after Chris' sister who is Katie but who Chris calls Kate. (She is actually named Mary Katherine but goes by Katie.)

The bonus is that her name literally has our two sisters' names within it. and we only have two sisters which is perfect! They're already both over the moon about this baby!

Chris and I are honored to name our little girl after these women.

After a delicious meal the Connells had prepared,

the family gathered around the laptop to watch Elizabeth's ultrasound video.

(Which I'm sure only grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles want to watch!)

My Dad found it amazing and talked about it for a long time. It is really unbelieveable what all they can see with in your body and the body of a baby!

Then everyone surprised us with several gifts they had all gotten for the baby!

They were so sweet to get us gifts for the baby... we were definitely surprised!

Elizabeth is the first grandchild on both sides... maybe this has something to do with our over the top celebration!

What an honor to get to share this with our sweet families!

We were so glad the Connells hosted all of us!

xoxo

Baby Connell...

2011-09-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

We are all tickled pink!

More from the family reveal dinner later...

Until then, please enjoy this photo of our baby girl.

Elizabeth Kate.

Thanks be to God!!!

xoxo

Pool Adventures with the Little People

2011-09-07T18:05:00.001-04:00

PSST! If Baby Connell cooperates tomorrow, Mr. Connell and I get to find out if it's a girl or boy! Check out the poll we put up on the right column... :)

This may be one of my longest posts ever.

I blame it on the fact that we have one of the largest families ever. and I don't want to leave anyone off the blog, you know.

Families.

Large or small are a beautiful thing.

On Sunday, in honor of the holiday weekend, part of our extended family got together at Leanne's house..

Cousin Leanne's that is.

You see, these ladies were two of a large clan.

They and their siblings all mulitiplied, their children multiplied, and now their children's children are multiplying.

It's made for a rather large extended family.

Chris is still trying to figure out who all he's now related to by marriage. Past that, now he's gotta figure out which children go with which couple. It's quite a task considering there are now (at least in the bunch present at the party) 17 littles running around.

After the feast we called lunch, Leanne offered up her pool for anyone who wanted to swim.

The little people couldn't get in the pool fast enough.

Slipping into bathing suits, lathering on sunscreen, and pulling on the appropriate swim safety equipment, these kids were READY!

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses."

~Joyce Brothers

Once little bodies (and some big ones) were successfully starting to prune,

the dessert bell rang.

and everyone began to swarm the dessert table.

But why wouldn't you? It doesn't get much better than what that table had to offer.

With bellies full of yummy goods, it was back to the pool for more fun.

Several of us big people needed a bit more time to rest between meals.
Our fun was leaning against the railing enjoying the rest from such good food.

Fun or food coma. You decide.

What I wish you could see is that Sister Beth and Bro-in-law Will were both sporting their polo shirts. (Cousin Anna I know you would have appreciated that!)

It wasn't too long though until we joined the chitlins down by the water.

J. dressed in his best superman regalia. I think I heard him say his dad has a matching outfit.

Those are Nana's very famous brownies. The icing on top is about half an inch thick!

This little girl is a big fan of my mother and my mother is a big fan of her.

Mom's name is Betsy, but Addalee calls her Bitsy.

She loves to tell Bitsy secrets!

It is was so fun getting to see all these kids playing together. Children of people I grew up with. So many people that I love dearly in one place.

Big hands helping out littles.

and sometimes small hands helping out smaller hands...

Addalee needed a lift back to the stairs and big brother J. was there to help.

This little guy is a cutie! About a foot taller than when I last saw him. Such a water lover! You can see the storm coming in, so finally his momma had to pull him out of the water. Our swimming day was over.

Bathing suit beauties made their way inside and just in the nick of time.

Our time with this boat load of family was done.

Everyone began gathering up their little people and giving lots of hugs and kisses goodbye.

We can't wait to add another person to this family mix come February!

xoxo!

Hard at work

2011-09-02T16:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes Mr. Connell has to work on Saturdays.

It's not often, so earlier this summer the Kehne's and I met up to surprise him with a visit to his office.

Mr. Connell loved seeing us there.

You can just see the excitement on his face.

Saturdays are casual which explains the tee and flips. Normally, he's a khaki and polo kind of guy at work.

and on a typical day all these desks are full of dedicated employees hard at work as well.

Luckily for Mr. Connell there weren't many people present for our entourage. :)

So proud of my hardworking, t-shirt loving professional!

Maybe I'll have to surprise him with another visit one day...

xoxo

10 years and counting...

2011-08-24T20:46:00.001-04:00

High school.

Was it really 10 years ago?!

Since Chris and I attended my 10 year high school reunion on Saturday night, I guess it was. It's hard to believe. One day I feel like it was just yesterday, but then on others, it seems like a lifetime ago.

Luckily, we don't look like it was a lifetime ago!

(Or do we? Let's not ask a current high schooler...)

Casey, myself, and Rachel

Our Senior Class President and Vice President, Casey and Natasha, put together a lovely evening, complete with dinner, name tags (with our Senior yearbook photo included), and a DJ. There were about 100+ of us and our significant others who attended. The conversations of that night were my favorite. I loved getting to reconnect with these friends.

Melinda (a spouse of a former 2001 graduate), Casey (who was also a college roommate of mine), Grayson, and Sarah (who is the future Mrs. Grayson to be!)

All of these photos were taken with my cell phone, which should explain the weird color and slight blur. My big camera was in the car, but these days I choose not to do the extra work... and yes, walking out to the car would have been too much. Pregnancy seems to have brought on a different me. Any other time I would have raced to the car so that all of these pictures would have been crystal clear.

Rachel, Melinda, Ashley, Casey, me, and Grayson

It was wonderful getting to see all of these sweet friends from those days of high school. To see how they're doing now, what they look like, and where they are in this big world. We've all gone and made our way to where we are. There is something to be said about focusing on the present and preparing for the future, but I also think it's good to remember your roots... where you came from... to remember the stories and people who helped shape who we are today.

Erin, me, and Erin

Our 10 year post high school selves are a combination of what life has dealt us and our decisions. What is dealt us is not necessarily within our control, but our decisions? Those are. We decide what we want out of this life and how we react to the things we cannot change. Seeing these old friends reminded me of that. Maybe it's my old age getting to me, but the 10 year made me quite contemplative.

How quickly these 10 years have gone by!

Me, Melanie, Joanna, Erin, Amanda, and Katie

and how quickly the next 10 years will go!

My grandmother always tells me that the older we get the faster time goes... I'm 28 now, but I imagine that is very true. I've also heard it compared to toilet paper... The closer to the end you are, the faster it goes. So for how ever many years we have until the next reunion, I want to continuing focusing on the things that matter in this world. God and my people. Not things and money and looks that come and go.

Speaking of my people, I picked the most handsome and charming man I know to be my date...

How's that for not focusing on looks? :)

He was the perfect date and I was proud to get to introduce him to my old friends. I was a little nervous about going, so having him by my side was the best.

We spent the night in Morristown with my family since it was late... After church and lunch at Hillside, we picked up a little hitch hiker to take back home with us.

Cousin Addalee.

Who rode in the backseat with another little hitch hiker...

Macy.

The two were perfect little travel companions, both strapped in their appropriate car seats. (Macy hyperventilates for the first 30 minutes of any car ride and that above is part of her crazy face. Addalee looks as cute as ever!) It was fun to hear Addalee's sweet little voice coming from back there. After we dropped her off at her parents, I was sad to see the empty seat where she sat... In good time though, we'll have one of our own. For now, we'll settle for borrowing the cousins' babies.

Happy next 10 years to all of us!

Let's make them the best we can...

xoxo

Lake Weekend

2011-08-17T18:15:00.002-04:00

There's something about a body of water that brings relaxation with it.

Add four of your favorite friend couples {+ their little ones} and you have one wonderful weekend.

Emily, Allison, Jennifer, moi, Brooke, and three littles you can't see yet!

Fun fact - Brooke and I are due on the same day...

Adam and Jenn kindly asked us all out to their beautiful lake house a few weekends ago for loads of fun and a whole lotta eating. It's the perfect arrangement. Each family picks a meal to bring and prepare. The others relax or tend to the babies. Chris and I are the only couple without children (outside the womb), which I've determined is why we are invited to these family fun events... Two more sets of adult hands to help with the cute little people. We might be dis-invited once we bring another soft skinned love muffin to the table, but we're living it up until then.

Living it up by sun-bathing on the dock...

and taking leisurely paddle boat rides...

Chris and Drew didn't start out as the only two on the love ride. Allison, baby Joel, and I initially joined them. That is until the men had enough of either the constant complaining of the bugs or the crying baby. Allison called our trip short, because of the very unhappy baby, but it wasn't a moment too soon for me. I was already plotting my escape off the back. Into the sweet lake water and away from the spiders.

The big ones could save themselves... I would have taken that baby with me though. He was in a life jacket.

Living it up this weekend did include lots of dips in the water... by the baby pool on the dock or by floating in the lake. {Disregard how green that water looks in the picture above...}

Allison and baby Joel - both were relieved to be off the paddle boat.

baby Luke

Another fun fact... Luke and Joel were born on the same day at the same hospital.

All these sweet little babies made me so excited for our own little wee one to come... Time will come though - ours has to bake.

After showers and before dinner, Chris brought out his guitar to play a few tunes, which also brought out the dance moves of the older two children in attendance... Blair and Liam.

Dancing toddlers could not be cuter...

Just a side note - you can also see in the kitchen that Jennifer and Allison were up to something. That would be the ribs that Adam and Jennifer made for a meal that evening! They baked practically the whole day and turned out perfectly. Chris is still talking about how delicious they are. It was Jenn and Adam's anniversary, so luckily we all got to celebrate with them.

I said earlier that dancing toddlers could not be cuter, but dancing toddlers with ruffle bottoms?

So cute!

Thanks for hanging here with me, even when I've been absent. On the end our lake trip, we got word that my great Aunt Hannah had a stroke. The Lord took her home with Him the next night and a few days later the family gathered together to say our goodbyes. She was a beautiful lady with a spunky spirit and will definitely be missed. At 84 years old, still independent, and with a legacy of touching people's lives, her life is easy to celebrate.

Not to mention the week after, I caught a case of food poisoning that really knocked me off my feet. The bounce back period took me a bit longer than anticipated, but I'm thankfully back to feeling good again.

and celebrating these wonderful people God has placed in my life.

whether it be a lake weekend of fun or a lifetime of family memories,

we've gotta hold tight to those we love!

xoxo

Life* as of lately

2011-07-27T18:49:00.001-04:00

Heellllooo!

I missed this little blog. But at last I think I have turned a corner in the all day nausea land. We landed on 12 weeks Saturday {our wee one is the size of a lime} and so far I've been feeling GOOD for almost a week now. We celebrated by seeing civilization again. I think Mr. Connell was so glad to have his wife back that we crammed as much as possible into last week. For some reason, about half of the photos I uploaded didn't stick to photobucket... these are the ones that did.

We...

1. ...had a sleepover! Little J. Man spent the night. We celebrated with pancakes. I even ate a whole one.

{Love that boy!}

*******

2. ...ventured out into the million degree weather. I only do that these days if water is involved. Chris {my husband who is highly allergic} was stung by a wasp. Directly over his heart. Concerned that swelling in that location isn't good {remember this story?}, the two of us headed to Target for some Benadryl. As we were walking in, I mapped out a plan on what to do if his heart stopped. Thankfully, I didn't have to provide life-saving medical techniques. I'm happy to report he had other medicine called in later and has made a complete recovery.

{the men}

{little men in training}

*******

3. ...welcomed two little boys into our sweet friend group. Scott Moore and Davis Dalton. They are both absolutely precious and we are beyond excited for their families! I'll have to post other photos of the little ones you can see up close since photobucket is having a moment, but this one should tide you over...

{Chris, Davis, and proud papa John}

and that right there folks is the first time my husband has held a newborn. The newer they are, the more nervous he was about them. He decided sitting at John and Beth's house that it was time. I just think it's funny he waited to hold one of the smallest - Davis surprised everyone by coming 5 weeks early!

*******

4. ...said goodbye to the sexy coupe and hello to the sporty SUV....

We're starting to prepare for the car seat and stroller and everything else that comes with a baby. I'm not sure the diaper bag would have fit in my old {and very loved} car.

*******

5. ...repainted the back deck. Well, I didn't have anything to do with this, but Chris and his Dad spent the weekend making that deck look awesome. Chris and I did this just two years ago, but evidently what we used first didn't cut it. Because we didn't strip it down before putting on the good stuff, our deck had the weathered look again about a month after our paint job. It was time to make it look great again. We're wooing buyers you know.

This is all part of the wooing... Looking like Samford & Sons in the process...

Our roof was also replaced around this time. Best part of my day was coming home and finding one of the roofer's girlfriends chilling on our "lawn" furniture. Maybe we should leave it out there? I think it will look great for the open house. :)

*******

6. Last and final photo for the day... Macy got her ears shortened.

xoxo! :)

Cuddles with Macy

2011-07-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

Being "morning sick" all day has it's advantages

when you get to cuddle with this little snuggle bug more...

Happy {late} Fourth of July!

2011-07-06T21:01:00.002-04:00

It's technically the 6th of July,

but I couldn't get my act together enough to tell you Happy 4th until now.

We LOVE celebrating Independence Day and this year was no exception.

Celebrating the freedom of our country with friends and family is just the best way to do it!

Friday night we accompanied a slew of friends out at McFee park. Dinner was potluck style. Bathing suits were worn for the water park festivities {of course, only the children participated}. We had such a fun time getting in some adult conversations while wrangling children and snuggling the baby.

The picture above is courtesy of Kate, who being a good blogger, brought her camera.

Thanks sweet friend for the photo! Kate is about to deliver Baby #2 on Friday and we can't wait for another little boy to love on.

*******

After the friend celebration,

Mr. Connell and I headed out of town on Saturday for our own little getaway.

We had tickets to a small concert in Nashville.

You may have heard of them... U2!

Mr. Connell purchased two tickets for us back in November on the very day they were released. A few weeks ago, we decided to make a stay out of it and booked a hotel about 5 miles from the concert location at Vanderbilt Stadium.

The whole day was a blast!

We got to Nashville early enough to take an afternoon nap {even with my car ride nap earlier}, tour Lipsomb College where Chris went for a semester, shop a bit at Green Hills Mall, and have dinner at Panera.

Once we got to the concert, it was even better... our seats were on the end of the aisle, which we both loved! I'm not crazy about crowds {ahhh, yes, a wee bit caustrophbic - thank you, Mother!}, so seeing that our seats on the end of the bleachers was wonderful. It was hot as hades out there, so we rejoiced for the small people beside us and the shade that soon covered us! By the time the concert got started, you couldn't see a single seat open in the whole stadium.

{Opening band - Florence and the Machine}

U2 was phenomenal! The acoustics {that's a word my husband would use} was perfect, so luckily I didn't need my ear plugs that I had forgotten back at the hotel.

We sang along, rocked the air guitars, and jammed to the music all night.

Only once did I think I might pass out, so I went and splurged $7 for a chicken tender meal. I think by the end of our U2 experience we spent $10 on food + $12 on water + $40 on a souvenir t-shirt. ALL.WORTH.IT. {Esp the food and water part}

My favorite part of the evening? When Bono stopped and sang Amazing Grace sans instruments.

Picture this: all of the lights are dimmed except soft glowing shades positioned in a circle around the stage. No music... only the sound of a man's voice over the speakers. Then... 45,000 people joining in to sing it with him.

I had goose bumps and didn't even have a voice to sing it due to the lump in my throat. Hymns will get me every time. Oh, how I hope that was pleasing to the Lord and that it sparked the hearts of everyone there.

Overall, it was one of the best concerts we have ever been to!

We finished the evening by using our GPS to find a Krispy Kreme.
Only it didn't take us to a Krispy Kreme restaurant... it took us to a Krispy Kreme distribution center. We found ourselves in the middle of Nashville's industrial park at midnight. Such a bummer! The TomTom regained our confidence by getting us back to the hotel afterward though.

Chris ate some of my crackers and we headed to bed... happy from a fun day together!

*******

Sunday morning with bags packed,
we headed back home to go to my parent's house for a lovely family dinner. Dining on all the yummy food the women prepared and watching the neighbors shoot off fireworks {prior to dark}. I always love when family gets together to share stories and talk about life... It was a perfect Sunday night.

Monday was just as fun! We had a nice lunch with Chris' family and ended the night with some friends {a few of them from that first photo} to watch the fireworks they had.

Such a wonderful long weekend and a beautiful celebration of what this country is all about... the freedom to be with those we love and do the things we enjoy!

Hope you all had a great Independence Day!

Updates on the big news, more big news, and a Don Gallo pic!

2011-06-27T18:49:00.001-04:00

First, thank you for your kind words and for sharing in our excitement!

It has meant so much to us.

YES! Our big news is that I am pregnant and we're expecting our first little Connell baby February of 2012. It's pretty surreal and if I wasn't nauseous most of the day, I may not even believe it's true. It took us about 9 months for our plan to meet up with the Lord's (a story I want to share eventually), so even though just about everything I eat requires mental reactiveness to not throw up, we are very thankful for this little blueberry.

Our baby is the size of a blueberry {possibly a raspberry or a kidney bean} right now. The baby is so tiny, but you can still see that little heart beating. It is truly amazing. As we watched that heart beat on the monitor, God's hand in this became beautifully evident. He is knitting together a baby who will be entrusted to us... all within the darkness of my womb. The magnitude of the gift he has given us is still sinking in. All the while holding the hand of the man I love and watching that little beating baby heart made another part of this girl's dreams come true.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for another ultrasound!

Until then, God gets to be the only one watching the baby grow.

You also might have read about our other news {not as big as baby news, but still big}, the Connell's are moving! Our house is on the market. It's a decision we made for our little family even before we knew a baby was already in the making. As fate and circumstance goes, the same day I got the little positive pregnancy result(s) our house made it's debut on the Knoxville market.

This area is where Chris and I call home (we did however talk about the pros and cons of moving east towards my family), so we're planning to stay in Knoxville. We have one of the best realtors, Allison Clemmons of Connell Properties, and she's making this process as easy as possible. Though I dare say keeping a clean house in the throws of ~~morning~~ all day sickness is a bit of a challenge, but luckily Mr. Connell is the best, most supportive man in the world. I am so blessed to get to do life with that man. House photos to come.

and because all posts require photos...

{Kate, Seth, Mr. Connell in the shadows, Melissa, Derek, Joe, and Carrie}

The last time Mr. Connell played at Don Gallo I left my big camera at home. (I think it was the pregnancy.)We had to make do with the cell phone for those great friends in support of the big musician!

That's about it on our updates! I've been a little lacking here {you can thank the blueberry}, but I'm hoping to make more appearances sooner than later. Thanks for being here. :)

xoxo

Our BIG news! (and the letter I wrote to Mr. Connell)

2011-06-24T20:23:00.000-04:00

It's true! Mr. Connell and I are expecting our first little one in February.

We could not be more thrilled!

xoxo

CONNELL TALES

Pedicures with Jenny and Addalee

Elizabeth's Nursery

Dinner with Friends

Elizabeth

Mothers and Daughters

A Sprinkle for Laura

Happy Birthday *soon to be* Grandmother Nattie!

Happy Birthday, little River!

Women's Baby Shower

Celebrating New Year's Eve

Christmas with Mamaw

Cell phone pics of lately...

A Connell Christmas Day

A Turner Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas from us to you!

Live Nativity

Couples Baby Shower

29

Christmas at the Connells

Titans game

Maternity photos - part 2!

Our very first BABY shower!

Thanksgiving 2011

Baby Elizabeth list...

A shower for Emily

10 everyday photos on the 10th

Happy Family

"A Happy Family Is But An Earlier Heaven"

My love for football

Home sweet home

Serious things and Halloween!

Maternity swap - photos of us!

Maternity swap

*Thankfulness*

the house we call home

Allison Krauss

Family photos

A (random) update if you will...

Atlanta Adventures

The first UT game of the season.

Baby Reveal Dinner

Baby Connell...

Pool Adventures with the Little People

Hard at work

10 years and counting...

Lake Weekend

Life* as of lately

Cuddles with Macy

Happy {late} Fourth of July!

Updates on the big news, more big news, and a Don Gallo pic!

Our BIG news! (and the letter I wrote to Mr. Connell)

Happy Birthday soon to be Grandmother Nattie!

Thankfulness