The Verdells

We went back to the doctor on October 19th.  Everything looked really good and Baby V had gotten so big! We couldn't believe how much he/she had grown! The heartbeat was still too soft to hear, so we get to look forward to hearing it at our next appointment.  Our doctor, Dr. Chang, said everyone is healthy and growing along perfectly.  Here are the latest pictures of our sweet Baby V!

We got to see our precious little miracle for the first time on September 25th.  I was so scared to go to the doctor for the first time, but once I was there (and through having my blood drawn) I was great.  The moment we saw that sweet baby on the ultrasound screen, we were blown away. We saw the heartbeat and the doctor said we were 5 weeks.  Itty Bitty Verdell is expected to make its grand entrance on May 25th!  And so the journey begins........................

It was time to break the news to our extended families after we had some time to celebrate our news together.  We had Jordan's parents over on September 20th and my parents and brother over on the 21st.  We had gift bags with tiny diapers and a poem for each member of the families.  On the diaper read "Grandpa May 2010", "Grandma May 2010", etc. The poem was a precious little rhyme they had to read carefully to figure out what it meant.  Our families were so very excited and we really enjoyed celebrating with them.  We even got to go to Mississippi to break the news to my Great-Grandmother.  She was so shocked to find out she will be a Great-Great-Grandma! Here are some pictures from our fun events! 

Yep! We are so thrilled to announce we are adding a new member to our little family!  On September 17th, I found out we are having a baby!!!  I found out at work, with my good friend Ms. Debbie. I only took a test to prove to her that I wasn't pregnant. Boy was I pleasantly surprised!  I couldn't wait to tell Jordan, but I wanted to be sure to plan a fun way.  I had to wait a whole day to tell him, one of the hardest things I have ever done!  The next day, Friday, I took off work early and headed out with my good friend Whitney to get things ready to break the big news.  I went and bought a tiny little red Razorback onsie and matching booties.  I packed them in a box and under them I put the two positive pregnancy tests.  Here is how the box looked: 

Jordan and I met for "drinks" after work on Friday.  I had to sneak and tell our waitor to be sure to make mine a not-so-adult beverage.  When we came home, the package shown above, had been "delivered" (thanks to Whitney and Brad) to our front door for Jordan.  He didn't catch on to the "From" address, so we headed inside to open the mystery package.  He started opening the box and pulled out the onsie and booties.  He just looked at me and said "You sent this, you got me something!" At this point, he still hadn't realized that razorback stuff wasn't exactly his size! When he finally got to the tests, his eyes welled up with tears and he got the biggest smile on his face.  He was so excited to find out he is going to be a daddy!  Here are some other pictures from our big evening.

Because we were out of town with friends on my birthday, we waited to have my party until we got back.  Wednesday night we met with friends and family at U.S. Pizza for dinner and a good time.  My sweet, sweet husband and my wonderful best friend, Bree, went early and set up the party room with lots of pink balloons, streamers, banners and all the goodies, plus a beautiful cake!  Jordans whole family and my brother and his girlfriend all came to join in on the fun.  Bree and her husband, Derick, and their three baby girls were also there.  We had the best time visiting and laughing.  After cake, gifts and some time playing with all the neices, and nephew (poor little guy is so outnumbered! 5 to 1! lol) it was time to head home.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday party to celebrate with some of my favorite people!  Thank you all who came.  I really appreciate how much you care and love you all so much!

I can't believe I am saying this, but I am actually 25! It seems like just yesterday I was 16 and living it up in High School.  I feel like my life has come so far since then.  I had the best birthday ever, on the BEACH! Yes, I drug my husband back to the beach for a second trip this year.  We went to Destin with some good friends, Mitchell and Rachel, and met several other couples down there.  We even got to hang out with the (future) Homans when they got into Destin on Friday night! Yes! They are engaged! Brad and Whitney, two of our absolute best friends got engaged a few days after we left.  So excited for them! 

Anyway, we left Thursday around 2:45 and drove all the way through to Destin.  Our condo was in the perfect location, so close to the water you could throw a rock and hit it.  We got up the next morning and headed straight out to the beach!  It was beautiful! The sand was bright white, the water was crystal clear and the sun was shining.  We knew it was going to be an amazing trip!  Friday night we went to dinner on the deck with our friends Jonathon, Megan, Mitchell and Rachel at Fisherman's Wharf, my favorite restaurant in Destin!  After dinner we met up with Brad and Whitney and another couple, Jordan and Lindsey, who live above us at our apartments.  We also made some new friends along the way at Pat O'Bryans and wound up all hanging out together.  What a great night with fun people! 

 

We spent all day Saturday on the beach again and Saturday night we went out with 4 other couples on a Pirate Ship cruise!  It was an absolute blast!  We grilled burgers by the beach and listened to the ocean the rest of the night.  Sunday we were up early and on the beach to get in as much time enjoying it as possible!  Of course, you know me, Sunday evening we did pictures on the beach.  The weather was so beautiful and we got some really cute shots!  That night Jordan grilled huge steaks and we went walking out on the beach.  Miss Maci even got to go play in the sand for a bit! It was so dark and she was so light just like the sand that it was hard to keep up with her!  She ran around like crazy and had so much fun in the water rushing up from the waves.  We were so sad to leave on Monday, but were definitely ready to get the long car ride over with! 

First of all, I am HORRIBLE at updating our blog on regular basis! I promise to be better at adding more posts (and in a timely manner).  We have been so very busy lately that I haven't even had a chance to sit down and think about our website! Well that is changing today! 

Jordan and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary on August 16th! Wow! I can't believe it has already been a full year!  So many people told us that our first year would be the hardest.  If that is true, then the rest of our lives will be Heaven!  We have really had an amazing first year together.  We have been on so many fun trips like Branson, Texas (twice!), Mississippi, Gulf Shores and Destin all in our first year!  I obviously have had the travel bug and Jordan has been more than patient with me dragging him all over everywhere on all these trips. 

We celebrated our anniversary the best way I could imagine!  Starting that Friday night, we turned off our phones, tv, computers, everything!  We spent all Friday evening, and all day Saturday and Sunday completely cut off from the distractions of the outside world.  We had a blast! We sat around and talked so much and just enjoyed each other's company.  Saturday we went and bought some things for our house, had a late lunch, and hung out at home together.  Later that night we dressed up and Jordan took me out to eat at one of the best Steak houses in Little Rock, Sonny Williams!  Sunday night, at the same time we married, we watched our wedding video and ate our cake.  It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  Thanks to my mom, it was wrapped very well, so it was pretty good! What a great weekend! I told Jordan I enjoyed it so much that we should do that more often!

I knew well before I married Jordan how awesome of a person he is, but I had no idea just how lucky of a girl I would be.  I have been so fortunate to have married my best friend, and the sweetest, funniest, most sincere person you could ever meet. He makes me laugh more than I ever have.  It's the coolest feeling to pray together, sit down and have dinners together, and just hang out.  I know that no matter how many times I am let down in life, Jordan will always be there to pick me up.  He is my absolute rock and I don't know where I would be without him. 

Thank you all for your prayers and support through our first year.  We love each of you and are so blessed to have you in our lives.  We are looking forward to many, many more amazing years together and, eventually, starting a family of our own!  

Ok, so maybe we're dreaming, but after spending a day at Seaworld, on top of wanting to move to San Antonio, we have now decided our next careers will be dolphin/whale trainers!  We had an absolute blast in Texas! Our days were packed from morning to late night and we had a wonderful time!  We were so excited to see my family that we decided to leave a day early and left right after Jordan got off work Saturday afternoon.  We drove straight through and made record time, getting there in around 8 1/2 hours! On Sunday we got up and went to the Mexican Marketplace in downtown San Antonio.  It was beautiful outside and a perfect day to be out and about.  I love the Marketplace and seeing all of the handmade crafts and hearing the live music.  We left there and went back to hang out with my family that evening. 

Monday morning we were up bright and early for Seaworld!!!  This was probably the most exciting for me because I haven't been since I was little and I love dolphins, etc.  We were so excited my Nana came with us.  She rode all but one of the rides with us.  We had an absolute blast with her!   We got to see some of the best shows I have ever seen, feed and pet dolphins, ride fun rides and see penguins and sharks! My favorite of the day was, of course, the big guy, SHAMU!!!  We loved the show, it gave me chills.  What a beautiful animal! And on top of it, Nana had set us up to go to the VIP dinner backstage with Shamu and the trainers! What a neat experience.  Our tables were set up around the edge of his training tank so the whole time we were eating and talking with his trainers, he was swimming up wanting to see what was going on.  They showed some tricks with him and then had him come up on his platform so we could see him up close and personal, really up close! After a few rounds on a drenching water raft ride, it was time to head home! Open to close, we ROCKED Seaworld!

Tuesday I took Jordan to float the Comal River. A nice, relaxing time with a few fun "Tube Chutes" along the way.  It was so nice outside once again.  After we floated we hung out on the river with my Aunt Nancy, cousin Vanessa and her kids.  Tuesday night we went bowling with Nana, Jimmy and my cousin Brandon, who is going to Vegas for a big bowling tournament.  Jordan was so excited to go bowling with him.  Just on a practice round he bowled a 220.  I was happy to get 96! Wednesday we spent the day eating lunch with family, visiting my Grandpa's grave, shopping at the biggest outlet mall ever and went to my Uncle Jimmy's favorite hangout, the County Line.  They had some great live bands and good food, doesn't get much better!  We went home fairly early to rest.  We needed it for the next day at the waterpark!!

Thursday was Schlitterbahn day!!! Schlitterbahn is a huge waterpark just outside of San Antonio.  Nana joined in on the fun for the day and we had an absolute blast!!  We rode just about every ride in all 3 of the parks.  Our favorites were the tube raft rides and the rushing river.  Sorry Nana, I have to tell on you, at one point Nana decided she would try and get out of her raft through the bottom.  She wound up with just her head, hands and feet stuck through the top of the raft.  I laughed so hard I couldn't get out of my own raft! lol  What a  great memory!  We laughed so hard all day long and really enjoyed each other.  We are so blessed to have such an awesome Grandma who is so much fun and such a joy to be around.  After spending the day almost flipping out of rafts, flying down water slides and rushing through water rides, we were pooped! A quick stop by Sonic for some ice cream and we headed home to shower and go to a movie with Jimmy.  What a day! 

Friday was the dreaded last full day in Texas.  We had a pretty lazy day and just enjoyed San Antonio.  That night we were so excited for dinner.  The whole family got together for one last dinner before we had to go home.  All 3 of my Uncles and Aunts and Nana all went to Jordan and my favorite restaurant, Alamo Cafe!  We had a great dinner and we were so glad to get to spend time with everyone before we had to go home.  What a perfect ending to a perfect week!   I don't think we could have had a better time than we had that week.  It was the perfect way for Jordan to see San Antonio for the first time in nice weather.  We can't wait to go back and do it again!