WAXING POETIC

I am IN LOVE with the jewelry line: WAXING POETIC! Houston and I live in loft above a boutique that carries this line---I think it illustrates Beauty!!! On that note, beauty, let me introduce you to one of my besties Lauren.

I know shes an absolute doll isnt she? She lives in Jackson Mississippi with her hubby Matt and is absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out. The other day I get home from work and I had the sweetest surprise in the mail---Lauren sent me a waxing poetic charm! And can you guess which one? The silhouette boy charm to represent our unborn precious boy, Baby Mac!!!! Look at this adorable charm!

I couldnt wait to show it to you guys because its such a sweet thoughtful gift for friends that are expecting or even for grandmas! If someone around your town carries this line I would say give it a look...its so unique and vintage.

Hope you have a HAPPY THURSDAY:-)

Exquisite Asheville North Carolina...only 60 miles away!!!

So Houston and I have been living in Kingsport now for over year and Im sad to say, we have NEVER visited one of the most exquisite cities nearby....Asheville, NC. Im a little upset with myself that we havent driven over sooner. A few weeks ago we headed over for a day trip and WOW what a wonderful day we spent there together. Three words come to mind to describe this town:1.Eclectic Culture 2. Divine Food 3. Simply Exquisite. (Ok so that was 6 words instead of 3)

Our day started off with brunch at TUPELO HONEY . This place was recommended by many and it did not let us down....check out the pics from our delicious brunch...

We then walked around the downtown area for a bit and found lots of neat stores to wander in. From unique arts to outdoor stores, (which Houston loves) to precious clothing boutiques, they have it all in downtown Asheville. They even had an URBAN OUTFITTERS...if you dont have one nearby you, they have a website, check them out. After walking off the food we ate we headed over to the Biltmore Estate. Even if you are not a history buff there is plenty to do at the Biltmore. They have a winery, wonderful restaurants, and over 8,000 acres of land for horseback riding! I could go on and on about this place that helps you escape from our everyday activities! We were there to tour the "house".....let me rephrase that, the castle! It was absolutely AMAZING! Just a few fun facts about this place...

It was built in 1895...took 6 years to construct. It was opened in 1930 to public to help during the Great Depression.

The Biltmore is 175,000 square feet---yeeeowzers! It is the largest privately owned home in America.

Has over 250 rooms and a indoor 70,000 gallon indoor pool.

Just look at this place..UH-MAZING!

Since we couldnt check out the winery, we opted instead for ICECREAM - YUMMY!

Goodness I can go on and on about this amazing place...but you will definitely have to check it out for yourself to experience the time we had! If you are looking for a weekend trip this summer, consider Asheville, you will not be disappointed!

Oh and one last thing, as we were leaving Asheville I noticed we were headed down "McDowell"street...I had Houston pull over so I could snap a pic..I know, Im a dork:-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jack and the Bean Stalk and Little Boy Blue

Hello blogger friends! I know its been a while and I have a lot to fill you in on...why do I always wait so long? As I was sitting here contemplating what to write I looked down and saw my growing belly and it reminded me of the old fairy tale...Jack and the Bean Stalk....why?

Well because after the "magic beans" were planted, the bean stalk kept growing and growing and growing. Thats how I have felt over the past few weeks...the belly has began the growing process! Here is my 20 week pic.....bye bye waist line helllllloooo Baby Mac:-)
So a few weeks ago we had the sweetest surprise...my momma and daddio came in town and surprised us the day before we went to the gender ultrasound! Yes, they came in from Memphis and were able to go to the appointment with us to find out what Baby Mac was! Here is a pic of my sweet parents...Mimi and Poppy! They are such precious people! This made my weekend and made the appointment that much better to have them there.

As we went into the ultrasound room I was so stinkin anxious! I couldnt believe how fast my heart was beating. I kept telling myself to calm down, but I couldnt, it was crazy how I couldnt wait to find out what we were having. As I layed down and looked up at the screen all I could see was our sweet baby moving around and around...it was uh-mazing! You just sit there in amazement thanking God for this beautiful life, this gift that he has blessed Houston and I with. So as I wiped my face dry and came out of the daze I was in Pam, our ultrasound tech scrolls between the legs of Baby Mac and then before she could say anything Houston and I screamed at the top of our lungs...Its a BOY!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! Our son was a little exhibitionist, fully exposed! My parents were so excited for us...he's the first grandson! Now, as most of you know, I strongly dislike hotdogs---I mean with a passion they gross me out...but I must say, once I saw this "hotdog" it was Love at first sight!!!
I will post better ultrasound pics later, our scanner will not scan all of them in for some reason...this is actually one Houston took from my phone off of the monitor. We didnt realize this was a "full anatomy" ultrasound and we were going to be able to see everything at this appointment, it was the neatest thing ever. We saw his little bones, his face, his spine, his hands, his tiny little foot, and the most wonderful part, his teenie tiny little heartbeat!!! Again just a reminder of how God has trusted Houston and I with this tiny human being. Talk about perspective. Thank You God for blessing our lives already.

Well thats it for now---we have been in and out of town a lot lately and I have lots of pics to post from recent trips..so I will get to those soon. I hope you all have a wonderful week:-) Now on to the name game.....oh this should be fun!

Amanda MAC

She's ALIVE, with a healthy heart!

I know I know I know...I have been so bad about updating. Let me hear it. I had this idea in my head that when I started blogging that I would do it everyday with no problem....now I need to be more realistic and commit to doing it atleast once a week!!!! We have had a wonderful April ----goodness has it been that long since I have posted? Well my computer decided it did not want to upload pictures from my camera anymore....I am still trying to figure this one out? But until then I have snapped a few pics on my phone that I am able to upload....soooo until I get my pics uploaded from my camera .... "fuzzy low quality" pics will have to do! Lets see where should I begin? First of all I will start with a pic of one of my precious nieces. This is my 2 year old niece Aubrey "cakes". This sweet angel fell off the couch last month and broke her tiny little arm. For you mamma's out there Im sure you have heard of "Yabba Gabba"...well she got so excited watching that and climbed up onto the couch and then fell off. Ouch that hurts me thinking about it. She is such a little trooper though...has not let this arm get in her way a bit! She will go around and say "Its Bwoke"!! I have more pictures of her birthday celebration that I will post once I figure out my picture upload dillema. In the meantime let this picture melt your heart!

So for a quick pregnancy update, everything is going great so far. Had a little scare at the beginning of the month with a few fainting spells but we got through these by the hardest. I knew your body "changed" alot when you got pregnant but goodness gracious, I wasnt expecting so many internal changes. I am still trying to work out and run but my body gets so tired, so easily! I will be running and say outloud " RUN BODY RUN". Its really amazes me the amount of energy your body uses when there is a precious baby inside you. Have I said yet how excited I am to meet Baby MAC? Ok Ok, So back to the "fainting spells" I was experiencing. I went to the doctor and since they were happening after I had eaten he knew it wasnt anything to do with my blood sugar being too low. He said the only thing he could think of is it had to be cardiovascular related. As most of you know I sell a cardiovascular drug and consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with the Heart. So when I hear the Doctor say that, the questions flood and he decides to put me on a heart monitor, just to make sure everything is ok. WOW, what an ordeal this was!!!! I had to wear a heart monitor for 48 hours and could not remove it....yes I know what your thinking, that meant, no shower (yuck), sleep with the device on and then get to try and cover it up as I work those 2 days! Oh what an unpleasent experience this was. Here is a pic I snapped to send to my momma...I had 7 stickeys total on me...4 across my chest and 3 on my sides....How attractive is this?

Now for the GOOD NEWS...there was not anything wrong! Just one of those things that come along with pregnancy. I told myself the day I got pregnant that I would embrace the good and the bad, so thats my take on this:-) As for the BAD NEWS....once I took the sticky pads off, I had an allergic reaction to the pads and those little square shapes from the stickys stayed on my body for 2 weeks!!!! Yes, as I said before this was not a pretty experience, but I EMBRACED IT!

So I will end with a happy note for now...I came home to this beautiful orchid the other day with the sweetest little note beside it---Yes, from Mr. Houston. As most of you know we live in a Loft downtown so low maintenance plants are the way to go! I learned that you feed orchids 3 ice cubes a week.... for whatever reason that really amused me?! So here is a pic of this beautiful plant along with the sweetest little card. Just a reminder of what God has blessed me with by putting Houston in my life.

Not sure if you can read the card or not? But it says "Happy Spring, Thanks for carrying our little baby"....goodness he is precious.

I have so many other things I can write and fill you in on...but until then...I saw this driving and it reminded me of my baby bump, ha! Yes I need to take Oprahs pledge of putting the phone down while I drive...but I saw this and had to snap it.

Next post coming soon...and it will have the 20 week baby bump pic in it! WOO HOO, Half way there:-) Have a wonderful Monday!!!