December "Happy"nings!

We are so very excited that we got the house we wanted. Now, the waiting time to move in is killing both Todd and I. If it was financially possible to move in yesterday, we would have! The end of January seems so far away! Our anxiousness to settle into our "family home" is taking over, as we look at the pictures we have of the house at least twice, if not five times a day. We sit there and plan out where furniture will go, what we need to buy to go in what room, what rooms will be empty for the time being until we can collect enough furniture, and most of all, what we will do in which rooms with Rhodes! Its funny how we already are planning out things like while I'm cooking dinner, Todd can take Rhodes outside with him to grill and sit at the patio table to have their "boy time". Its like we can foreshadow our lives in a few months with images of our baby boy that flash through our heads. I'm curious to see if everything we are dreaming up are actually going to go that exact way. Regardless, its going to be awesome!

At the time being,  I keep finding myself extremely tempted to buy anything and everything I see that says "Baby's 1st Christmas". I stop myself, because I know that next year will be the correct time to buy those items. Although, my inner fight is that technically this is his 1st Christmas since he is a breathing, moving, thinking human being.. It just doesn't seem fair that Rhodes' 1st Christmas can't be this year! Ha! I know I will feel 100% different next year though! At least Rhodes has his first ornament on our 1st family tree already, thanks to Mamy (grandma Amy, and I hope I spelt that correctly)!

We have no new baby updates, except that everything is going perfectly. Rhodes is doing so well, that we never get to have appointments, and we never get to see him because it is just not necessary. Its exciting to know that he already have such a perfectly healthy baby. I pray that his health continues to stay so strong throughout these next two (or less) months. Apparently his heart beat is as strong as a full term baby. We learned this from a nurse who was so excited about his healthy heart that she felt the need to show his charts to other nurses! :) Yes, we were/are extremely proud parents already!

*(picture: going on 32 weeks)


We also purchased our first vehicle together. A new, fully loaded GMC Acadia. My favorite part are the dual DVD players and TV screens in the back. Family vacations will now consist of Todd driving, me in the back watching one movie, while Rhodes watches another! Sorry Todd! We will be taking our first road trip in it in 2 days when we head to Kentucky for Christmas to see the family! Nonnie, my fathers mom, will be our first back seat passenger as we will pick her up on our way, in Tennesse. I told her to bring a movie, although I doubt she will ;)

Christmas is just a few days away! Everyone travel safe, enjoy their family time, gifts, and food. But most of all, remember the #1 reason we celebrate Christmas- the birth of our King, Jesus Christ! Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Update 1 on Baby Rhodes

We had our last appointment on Friday, December 2nd, and I had to do the GD test. The test is to determine if the mother has Gestational Diabetes. Anyone can have GD, and its something that only happens and lasts during pregnancy. To test for this, the doctor gave me an "orange drink" that was pure sugar. I had to wait an hour after drinking the drink and the nurse took 3 vials of blood. For anyone who knows me, they know that I don't eat sweets or anything sugary, so this "pure sugar" drink made me sick as a dog, to say the least. My body obviously doesn't like sugar.

Also at this appointment, I received my Rhogam shot, which was the shot I described in my last baby blog entitled "Bradley Rhodes Richardson".  For a quick reminder, I have a rare, negative blood type, and I must be given this shot so my blood doesn't take over Rhodes' little system. I don't like shots, I never have, and probably never will. They don't hurt me, but I just am terrified of them. Well, this shot gave me every reason I will ever need to not like them. Like I said, shots don't hurt me. Well, holy cow, this one HURT. Thank goodness it is over, and hopefully this round will work, so I don't have to have another one at Rhodes' birth. I will have to have them with each pregnancy, but as long as they work the first time, I will only have to have one per pregnancy. Repeat, this BETTER work!

They also measured Rhodes' growth and heartbeat, which were perfect! Thank goodness I have nothing more to add to this paragraph!

This morning, the nurse called with the GD results, and I passed with a 73. Failing the test would have resulted in a 130 or above, so I passed with flying colors as the nurse said. I also asked her about when the next ultrasound would be. Todd and I haven't seen Rhodes since week 20 and we are dying to see our little bundle of joy again. Sadly, she told me that since our pregnancy is going so well and we have no complications, that we wouldn't be recieving anymore ultrasounds. The thought of not being able to see Rhodes until he is born saddens me, although, I cant complain that he is brewing so well! She did tell me that we can have a 4D ultrasound for $150, but that would just be for fun. No more ultrasounds are medically necessary, therefore, they wouldn't be covered my insurance. Can I wait another 11 weeks to see him without going crazy? I guess we will find out!

We have our next appointment in four weeks, on Wednesday, January 4th. Nothing exciting will be taking place on this appointment. We go in, they measure my belly, listen to Rhodes' heartbeat, and then out the door we go. Again, I don't like this, but I cant complain because the easier and shorter the appointment, than the better our little baby is doing. After January 4th, we will begin our bi-weekly appointments, which can only mean that he will be coming into the world soon! I thought that after this past appointment would begin the bi-weekly, but apparently I was wrong.

Continue praying that he keeps growing so well and that the pregnancy keeps chugging along without any complications. Countdown= 11 weeks!

On a side note, last night Rhodes had the hiccups! It was the strangest feeling I have ever experienced, but I loved it! I could feel, what I guess, was his head bouncing off the inside of my belly. This occurred every 3 seconds on the dot for about 30 minutes! I was a little scared at first because I wasn't sure what it was, but after asking the nurse today, she confirmed my thought! How funny!

On The Hunt

Eleven weeks and counting until Due Day!  Eight weeks and counting until we are homeless! Well, hopefully not! Hopefully those three weeks in between two major dates are going to be consisting of moving and getting nestled into our new home before the addition of Rhodes!

For the past month or so, Todd and I had our hearts set on a house in Crestline. It was so cute! Updated, hardwood floors, fireplace, neighbors we were already friends with, and to top it off, a finished basement to be used as a guest suite, playroom, or Todd's "man cave". We thought that it would work out great, but we found out last week that it wasn't going to work. We were sad, but had to move on and figured that there was a reason why this house didn't work out, and that reason would soon be shown to us! We have a fantastic realtor that we have faith in to bring us our first home!

We met with the realtor on Saturday, December 3. There was a "blue house" as we called it, that we both really liked by looking online! That is one of those houses that you cant judge from pretty online pictures! The house itself was beautiful, old craftsman style with huge windows and big moldings everywhere! If only the house was in a different location! There was a railroad track basically going through the front yard, and the neighbors had an old bathtub and wood scraps (trash) laying in the backyard. Eye sore! So, we asked her about another house and if we could go see it. Off we went. The 2nd house was TINY. Todd liked it, and I don't know why. Yes, the neighborhood was nice, but the house had 3 bedrooms, each that were the size of a closet. Nothing more than a bed would fit into them, and a small bed at that! It had zero closet space, no backyard, and an old outdated kitchen. I nixed that immediately. I was not going to move out of a loft that we have outgrown and into a house that was even smaller.

We were about to give up for the day when Todd asked Karen, the realtor, about another house she had sent a picture to him in email. Karen's response was that she refused to show us the house unless we were absolutely willing to pay that price. Why? She knew we would fall in love with it. Well, stubborn as we are, we wanted to "at least drive by". Driving onto the street, it began to feel "homey". It was located on the back side of a circle and to say a quite street seems to be an understatement. We couldn't get into the house because Karen didn't have a key, but we walked around looking into every window. Todd and I sat in the front yard, full of leaves, and talked about how nice it was to be sitting there on this warm day. Never once did a car drive by, there was no railroad tracks, and no noise from any nearby traffic. Neighbors were out bagging leaves, and sitting on their front porches. An old man, with his cane, was out for his leisurely stroll. I began to picture little Rhodes toddling through the leaves in the front yard, or learning to ride his bike on this empty street. All of these great feelings, and we hadn't even been inside the house yet. Karen told us she would go back to the office and get a key, and call us to come back and meet her later that afternoon.

About an hour or two later, we pulled into the driveway of the house to meet Karen inside. Walking through the front door, there was hardwood floors, a sunken formal living and dining room, a hallway leading to the bedrooms, and doorways into the kitchen, eating, and den. The kitchen had more cabinets than I would ever know what to do with, it was completely updated, and was open to an eating area and a den. The eating area was as large as the formal dining and had a wall of french doors and windows that opened onto the outdoor patio and backyard. The den, also lined with french doors and windows, held a fireplace, tons of closet spaces, and a laundry room! The other end of the house had 2 bedrooms, a bath, and a Master Suite, complete with an "Oprah closet" as Karen called it.

Todd and I were sold. Karen was right, we would fall in love with this house immediately. We talked about how we felt at home from the moment we pulled in the driveway. We both could see Rhodes crawling around with this little trucks and toys in the den. I could picture myself standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner, watching Rhodes play in the den with Todd, as he would be watching football on the TV above the fireplace. Only problem, the price is at the tip tip top of our budget!

We have discussed money and can do it with lots of budgeting, and so we put in our application for the house on Sunday night. For anyone reading this, as you can tell, we love this house. We already feel it is our home, and we ask for prayers that this house can truly be our family's first home. I hope that this house is the reason for the first house not working out, and I really hope that Todd and I don't have to lose another house that we have our hearts set on!

Bradley Rhodes Richardson

I'm sure at this point, everyone has figured out that we are expecting a new little addition to our family. This has been such a wonderful surprise, and the greatest adventure that we could ever endure. The love we have for our little boy is one that we could never imagine, and cant fathom how much that love will  grow. Finding out about our pregnancy later in the first trimester has thrown us for a loop in planning. What is typically a 40 week experience is only going to be a 27 week experience for us, but thankfully the holidays fall in the midst of those weeks, which will help tremendously with material needs for our baby, as well as quality family time to surround ourselves in love.

Reaching the third trimester today means only 12 more weeks until we are able to hold our bundle of joy and meet him for the first time. People say the time goes by fast, but I beg to differ. These weeks are creeping by and seem to only creep slower the closer we get!

We both hoped for a little boy, although would have been happy either way, but when we saw the gender reveal at 20 weeks, we both shrieked in excitement! I'm guessing it was meant to be, because we had a boy name picked out for weeks and had no thought of a girl name.

A boy name was easy to come by. We had decided on the first name Bradley when we first found out about the pregnancy. The name Bradley is very meaningful for Todd, as it is the last name of his grandfather. The story behind this amazing man is truly humbling and hopefully everyone will be able to hear the story one day. Rhodes, the baby's middle name, and also the name he will go by, has no particular meaning for us, but was a name that we both instantly fell in love with.

So far, our doctors appointments have all gone smoothly and we have received nothing but healthy news about our little boy. He is growing right on track, has tested negative for diseases, and is a hyper little thing. The nurse always has to chase him around to get images of him. He thinks its a game of hide and seek from Mommy and Daddy at ultrasounds. I don't find it very funny! Ha ha. We have our next appointment at 29 weeks, on Friday, December 2nd, which is when we do a Gestational Diabetes test and an anemia test. I already found out I have -blood type, which upon research, I have read that gives me a higher chance of being anemic, which also gives us a higher change of having GD during pregnancy. Prayers of negative results would be greatly appreciated, as I already have to have extra shots for having a very rare, negative blood type. None of this is anything that can harm the baby, but it just makes stuff a pain in the butt for me!

We have daily reminders of our active baby, as he loves to party like a rock star at Mommy and Daddy's bedtime. His sleeping schedules and our sleeping schedules are opposites, and I have already started planning ways to change that as soon as he is here! Todd is still a little freaked out by feeling all his movements, but they are just a normal part of life for me now! I find it fun to play little games with him. I can poke my belly in all different areas, and he will follow my hand around poking back. Its so interesting to me that he already can respond in such a way, and that his brain is already formed enough to be able to poke me back and follow my hand around.

I will keep updates posted about doctors appointments until the arrival of Rhodes, when we can not wait to meet him ourselves and introduce him to everyone in our lives!

With This Ring, I Thee Wed

Struggling between a small, intimate ceremony, or a blow out of a wedding, ultimately we had to do what was best for our growing family- small and simple, kind of like us! Between family and friends scattered about, it was becoming too difficult to attempt to set a date in a small amount of time for all to attend. Our guest list kept growing, and schedules kept filling, and stress was taking over for everyone involved. Eventually, we realized that a big wedding was not what we wanted or needed at this time in our lives. We were already a family, and a big wedding wasn't going to change that. We were ready to be husband and wife and the constant delay of dates were overwhelming and ultimately made no sense for us. Once the engagement came, our patience of planning a wedding ceased, and our desire for this next step magnified.

I began the final plan for a wedding on Wednesday, November 9th, and immediately saw God working. There was a specific photographer I wanted, and she was available Sunday, November 20th. I was also given the name of a pastor and called him up, leaving a voicemail. He called me back no more than an hour later, and was willing to marry us. His only stipulation was that he was only available Sunday, November 20th. Wow! That worked out perfectly.

For anyone who knows Todd and I, we are both outdoor people and love lakes. I have always dreamt of an outdoor wedding, by a lake, with an old barn. I had basically given up on a barn, but figured any lake would work for our small ceremony. I had looked around, but not made plans. It just so happened that the pastor's church owned 36 acres of land with a lake, and offered it to us for no cost. This was all falling into place too easy! God is good, and he wasn't finished yet!

I had previously gone dress shopping a couple of times, and had found a gorgeous strapless ball gown, with a train, in my price range that I feel in love with. This dress was MY dress. I was so excited about it and it was the very first dress I tried on. I had given up on my dress at one point because I thought that we had changed plans too many times and waited so long, that the dress wouldn't be available. I went into the bridal store on Friday, November 12th hoping and praying for a miracle that my dress would be available, not to mention in my size and ready to wear in a week! They had one size left in a dress, and it was my size, and they were able to steam it and have it ready for me in time! Once again, there was God! He was as determined to get this wedding right in such a short time as I was!

The wedding weekend came, and we kept it simple. No rehearsal or dinner, no reception, no florist to deal with, and no decorations needed for a lake! My mom, two cousins, and I, sat in a hotel room Saturday night hand making my bouquet from stemmed flowers we bought at Whole Foods, and repairing my "something old" that was missing a few pearls. Everything got finished and ready for the morning.

Morning came and after fixing my own hair and doing my own makeup, we arrived at our wedding site. The photographer had beat us there, and had walked around the land looking for photo op locations. Once again, God showed up. There was a red barn that sat on the lake! I was going to get my barn after all! Now, I knew that this day would be perfect, and everything would be the sweet, country, outdoor wedding, I have always wanted. And even better, I had the most amazing man to share it with. I wasn't nervous at all, and was more than ready to say my vows to Todd in front of my family, his family, and most of all, God- who made this day possible.

Our wedding was short and sweet. Todd thought I looked beautiful and I thought he looked so handsome, and the whole day turned out to be everything I wanted it to be. I cant express how much I love him, but I can say that being able to begin this next step is the greatest prize that either of us could ever receive.




We are sad that we weren't able to share this day with everyone in our lives, but you all were there in our thoughts, and we cant wait to be able to celebrate with everyone at a later time. Be looking for a wedding announcement and a Save-The-Date for an upcoming Reception, hopefully beginning of Summer 2012!  -Emma

Engagement

With a baby on the way, lets say that our wedding planning began prematurely! We had already had many discussions, fights, compromises, and changes of plan before an engagement even happened. I honestly wasn't expecting one, and wasn't even sure that I would have an engagement ring before we married! However, it wasn't an issue. We both knew since day 1 that "forever" was our future, so marriage had been a discussion and a plan since we were even officially "boyfriend and girlfriend".  Anyway, I was definitely surprised when the engagement happened.

Todd had planned it out all so well, that I had no clue what was going on. I usually read into everything more than I should, so I had always assumed that I would at least know when it was coming, even if I didn't know exactly how. He had told me that Summer, a friend and co-worker of his, had wanted to go to this Pumpkin Patch and he thought it would be fun to go too. Knowing I am like a 5 year old, this was a good plan, because I was overly excited about a pumpkin patch. Summer is also a child at heart, so this "thought" of her wanting to go worked well!

He had let my two best friends, Trish and Meg, in on his plan, but to get them to go, I had to "invite" them so I wouldn't get suspicious. Trish texted me inviting us to lunch that Sunday. I knew we were planning on going to the Pumpkin Patch with Summer, so I just invited Trish and Meg along, since I wasn't able to make it to lunch that day. Ha! Little did I know...

Sunday, October 30th, Todd, Summer, Meg, Trish, and another great friend, Jamey, and I, loaded into Jamey's car and took off to the Pumpkin Patch. Thirty minutes later, we arrived just in time to catch the train that takes everyone to the Pumpkin Patch. This was pretty cool. I have always wanted to ride a real passenger train, and this was exactly what it was! A fifteen minute train ride, deep into the woods, led us to the Pumpkin Patch, small corn maze, and hay ride. Once we unloaded from the train, Todd pointed to a small area, separated from everything else, that had hay stacks with pumpkins sitting on top the hay, and said it would be a good idea to go over there take pictures. I agreed and we began walking that way. I, as curious as can be, was looking all around at everything, and paying no attention to where we were going. Of course, I didn't know I needed to be paying attention. Eventually, Todd's impatience got the best of him, and he started pushing me toward the hay and pumpkins. I guess I still wasn't paying enough attention, because Todd then asked me what the pumpkins said. This caught my attention as pumpkins aren't supposed to "say" anything, so I walked a little closer to read what was carved in them. "Will You Marry Me?" In utter shock, I gasped, threw my hands over my mouth, and flung myself around to see Todd on one knee, my friends taking pictures, and Summer with a video camera. I could not tell you what Todd said, but it was something along the lines of spending our lives together, and him holding a gorgeous ring out towards me. Of course I said yes and did a happy dance, which is on video. Embarrassing! Anyway, an older man came up to us and already knew what was happening. He congratulated me and told me how Todd had planned this out and called about setting it up. He then took a megaphone and announced to everyone at the pumpkin patch that we were now engaged, which led to many congratulations!

Boy, I was so surprised, and so extremely happy, and so proud of him for pulling this off! It was finally beginning to seem real and all the hectic wedding planning didn't matter anymore. I was ready to just get this finalization done and begin our lives together as husband and wife.

-Emma

Welcome!

Welcome! With family and friends living all around the country, we are excited to share all these new beginnings and adventures that life throws our way! Everything from marriage, pregnancy, family, and all that comes between, we hope to keep this updated with pictures and stories for everyone to feel apart of the action.