Thursday, October 28, 2010

It's A Boy!


Yesterday, October 27 we found out that the Baby Price is a BOY! We are so thrilled and ecstatic! Dr. Nicholls let us find out early the sex of the baby. Normally you would have to wait until you are 20 weeks. I am 15 weeks now. I was praying two things: 1 - that the baby would be turned so that we could actually see what it was, 2 - that the doctors/ ultra sound techs could be certain about the sex. Gunter and I are planning on going shopping soon for baby things, and we wanted to be really sure of the sex so we would know if we needed to buy pink or blue! The ultra sound tech said that she was 100% sure that he was a boy! An answer to prayer! 


Shot #1 of Baby Boy Price.
This is a good profile shot and you can see his hand sticking up in the background. 



Shot #2 of Baby Boy Price! 

We are so excited to see the baby. Everything is looking really good. In four weeks we will have another ultra sound, so more pictures to come! Keeping praying for a good pregnancy and that the baby grows and is continuing in good health! 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last Thursday (October 21) I told my "kids" at school that I was expecting. I wanted to tell them before I found out the sex of the baby, but on Friday we were going on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. I was really afraid that I was going to get "sick" on the trip and wanted to warn them. The weather in LA (Lower Alabama) has been extremely high, and hot weather and I are not getting along. It turns out that it wasn't that hot on Friday and I did not get sick.

So, I put a diaper in a bag and asked them to guess what I had in bag. They started off guessing random things - from candy to seashells. So I finally stopped them and asked them to guess the color. After a few guesses, someone finally guessed white. Then I gave them a hint. One of my student's mom is expecting her fourth baby any day now. My hint was that "I bet Riley has a lot of these at her house. " This got the ball rolling. They were now guessing rattles, bottles, pacifiers, etc. Finally, the fifth guess was a diaper. I asked them, "Why would a bring a diaper to school?" Someone said, "To give to Riley. " No. Then someone said "YOUR HAVING A BABY!" Then they were all yelling "Yeah!"

A few seconds later, one little boy said, "Wait! You cannot be having a baby!" To which I responded, "Yes I am." He then answered, "Well, I don't see it, and you are not even FAT!" I told him it would be coming! Pretty soon they would be rolling me down to the playground!

The kids then told me if they thought the baby would be a girl or boy. We made a chart!
Here is the kiddies with our chart! 
As you can see, most kids think it's a girl! 

It was time for us to head to music. On the way, I told them that they could tell their friends that I was expecting. They then asked could they tell the principle and other teachers. I told them that I had already told them. One little girl said, "Wait! Have you told Gunter yet?" I replied, "Yes, Gunter knows." It is so funny that they think so highly of themselves and that I would tell them, before I told my husband! 

My class at the Pumpkin Patch! 

Tomorrow is the big day! We will know if Baby Price is a boy or girl! 


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Is the News True?

Many of you may have noticed on my Facebook wall (or maybe not) all this talk about babies. Well, I am here to say that the news is true! Gunter and I are expecting our first baby in April. April 18th to be exact! We are thrilled and so excited. We are thrilled to see what God has in store for our family.

Gunter and I found out that we were pregnant in August. We decided to wait and tell our parents over Labor Day weekend. It just worked out perfectly, because both of our families would be together at the beach for the holiday weekend. It was also Gunter's birthday! We decided that it would be fun to share the good news with birthday treats. So I went to a local bakery and had them make "baby" cupcakes. We planned to all (Browns and Prices) eat dinner on Friday together. Before dinner, we told everyone that I had gotten Gunter a special birthday cake. Would they like to see it? This is what I brought out....

Slice of Heaven Bakery did such a good job! I was very pleased! I think my favorite cupcakes were the baby faces! So cute! Everyone had to choose their favorite one and have a picture made with it!
The excited parents! 

"Grandma" and "Grandpa" Brown
They haven't decided on "names" yet. 
I think Dad was in shock! He didn't know what to think! 

My brother and sister weren't there for dinner; they came down to the beach later. When Kyle arrived at 11:00 pm, we told him. I think he was a little shocked as well! Then the next morning, after the initial shock wore off, he was excited! 
Kyle and Julie with their cupcakes! 

Kelsey was the last to arrive. She came on Saturday morning. I was really afraid that she wouldn't come. She couldn't decide whether to come to the beach or to go to the first Auburn football game. After much debate, she decided to head down to Santa Monica Beach! 
Kelsey and Heath! 

Kelsey kept saying "I knew it! I knew it! I knew you were pregnant!" Ironically, her roommates kept asking if I was pregnant!

 I am so interested to see how Heath reacts to a new baby around the house! 

That is the story of how we told our families the good news. We waited a few weeks and told close friends the weekend of the Clemson vs. Auburn game! I will post the ultra sound picture later! I am telling my "kids" at school tomorrow! I hope they are excited! It is going to be interesting to see how they react!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

War Eagle Y'all!

Saturday we attended the Arkansas vs. Auburn game! It was a blast! A little warm, but still fun! We went to Montgomery Friday night to spend the night with Raleigh, Christen, and the twins. Then headed to the Plains bright and early.... well not as early as we had hoped. I was freaking out a little, thinking we weren't going to get a good tailgating spot, but everything worked out perfectly! We ended up getting an awesome spot behind the Library parking deck, next to Mel Hall. The Price family had a great time tailgating together, laughing and eating!

Gunter, Me, Christen, and Raleigh
Check out the blimp in the background! 

I even ran into an old friend who made the trek from Charlotte, North Carolina to bring her new hubby to real football game, an SEC game at that! I looked up from our awesome tailgating spot and saw the Peterson family tailgating behind the Quad dorms! I love seeing old friends! I haven't seen Rachel since her wedding in July! 

Reunion with Rachel! 

I am looking forward to seeing Auburn win a few more games this season! Maybe even Cam will win the Heisman! Pulling for him! 

On a side note, tonight was our "celebration" dinner for the Apples of Gold Bible study that I have been in since August. It was so much fun! I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to participate in it! Apples of Gold is a six week study for women to encourage them and nurture them. The study is based on Titus 2:3-5 "... Train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, chaste, domestic, kind and submissive to their husband, that the word of God may not be discredited." This is a mentoring study between older women in the church and younger women. You are so encouraged and blessed when you leave the Bible study time. 

We completed a short study, lead by an mentor. There was a cooking demonstration. Then we ate dinner together. And finally we got presents when we left! We were pampered! Tonight at the celebration dinner the husbands joined us. Gunter said he had a great time and everyone was so nice and friendly! I have been blessed through this study! I am looking forward to helping at the next Apples of Gold in the winter! 

Friday, October 15, 2010

Fall Break! Yippee!

This week is Fall Break for me! This is where I have been all week....

This is the view from our beach access at Santa Monica Beach. It was absolutely beautiful down there! The weather was perfect! It was sunny and warm, but there was a continual breeze, so you didn't get too hot. I guess that the butterflies are migrating south for the winter, because they were EVERYWHERE! They were so pretty. We saw hundreds of Monarch butterflies all over the beach and in our neighborhood. I wish that I could have taken a picture of them, but they were too fast!

Mom and I laughed because we never accomplish what we want to when we are down there. Instead we spent our time relaxing, going to the movies, eating out, and reading. I finished Remember Me? by Sophie Kensella. It was a hilarious book about a girl who was in a car accident and can't remember the last 3 years of her life. Kinsella also wrote the "Shop-a-holic" series. She is a great writer and so funny! Then of course I started the fifth Emily Giffin book Heart of the Matter. I am about 100 pages into it and it is so good! I love when Giffin brings in characters from her older books, and that is what she has done in her newest novel. It makes me smile! Can't wait to finish it!

On a side note, I went out to dinner with my friend Tracie last night and we started talking about Christmas decorations! It made me so excited for the holidays. Tracie has an Auburn themed tree and she was telling me about some new Auburn ornaments she bought this year. I bought a four foot tree last year at the after Christmas sale that is going to be my Auburn tree. I am so excited! I can't wait to start decorating! I am going to look for some orange lights today. Tracie and I figured that with all of the Halloween decorations out, we are bound to find some orange lights! I will let you know how my search goes.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Home Sweet Home: The Exterior

As I mentioned earlier, Gunter and I bought a fixer-upper two years ago. When I say "fixer-upper" I mean it! When we first pulled up at the house to look at it, this is what we saw....

I think my first words were "Where is the house?" We had driven by this house several times before, and I had never noticed it. Pictures just do not do it justice. The trim of the house was army green. There were a ton of azaleas in the yard, very overgrown azaleas. Pine straw everywhere. Squatty windows. And a yard FULL of pine trees. Plus, notice the lovely sliding/ railing on the far right, covering the carport. 

But I knew the house had potential. A little yard work could go a long way :) 

This picture gives you a better idea of the number of trees. We had 8, i repeat 8 pine trees cut from the front yard alone. Later we decided to cute down the magnolia tree as well. In the picture you cannot even see the tops of the trees. They were so incredibly tall. I know they have been in the yard for at least 50 - 60 years. 


This picture was taken after we had the 8 trees cut from the front. Looking better already, huh? The magnolia was still there at this point. We didn't decide to cut that down until recently. The hard part is getting grass to grow in the empty spaces. 


This is the front of the house now. The trim is painted a bright color. We have just a few pine trees for shade. We have been working on the landscaping. Bigger windows. No more enormous azaleas. Green grass...

 
This is where the magnolia tree used to be. We were sad to see it go, but the problem with this tree was that it was so BIG! We couldn't get any grass to grow underneath it. Plus it continually dropped leaves, big leaves, all year long! So after a great deal of consideration, we decided to get it cut down. It has opened up our yard so much! Now we are working on grass. This picture was taken after we laid a palate of sod this summer. It is looking great! 

Now for the really scary part... the backyard! 

Yes, those are weeds! They were as tall as the roof! The sliding doors in the middle of the picture lead to the master bedroom. The sliding doors on the right side of the picture lead to the dinning room. It was terrible! That was a HUGE undertaking for Gunter. I am so proud of his hard work. 


This is a better shot of the dinning room. We painted the trim, cleaned up the weeds, and replaced the sliding doors with french doors. The sliding doors leading to the master bedroom were replaced with 2 windows. Here is the back yard now....

What do you think? I think that it looks wonderful now! We have done a little landscaping. Those are 4 o'clocks on the left (they bloom everyday at 4 o'clock), cannas from my great-grandmother's yard on the right, and a trumpet vine growing along the roof line. It is so beautiful when it blooms! And a few swamp daisies mixed in there, which I am so happy they are blooming now! 


The weeds are gone! This is the view of the master bedroom now! 


Finally, this is the shed that Gunter built. He needed some extra storage for his lawn mower and tools, so he and his dad built this one weekend. I am sorry that the hydrangeas are all dried up. Please disregard them. They are usually blooming and full, but with the drought this summer and fall, they have not had a good year. We'll hope for rain and better year next year! 

It's my Fall Break  this week, so I am looking forward to relaxing and catching up on some reading. I just bought Emily Giffin's newest book Heart of the Matter. Can't wait to read it! More pictures of the house coming soon! 

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Happy Fall Y'all!


Finally, cooler weather! It came on quickly down here in lower AL. We went from HOT to COLD in a matter of days. When I say cold, I mean lows of 49 at night, pretty cold in my opinion. All the cold weather  made me want to do a little decorating for fall. Every year I try to add a little something new to my decorations. Last year I made these adorable "trick-or-treaters." I copied them from Darby Stickler's blog. Here are her trick-or-treaters.

I took her ideas and ran with it. Here are my trick-or-treaters. 
My trick-or-treaters on the front porch. 

Close up of the kids

Making the trick-or-treaters was so easy. I took a tall (probably 4ft. tall) scarecrow from Big Lots. I cut all of the straw off of the bottom and the sides. I bought some jeans and shoes and pinned them to the scarecrow. I then cut a sheet to fit the bodies and painted a face on it. I attached the bodies to the post (that came with the scarecrow) and attached it to a small piece of wood for the stand. That is it! So simple! 


My new project for this year was my mantle. I used all of the pieces that I already have up there normally and added to it. Pieces that sit on the mantle everyday include the two blue vases from Target, 2 candle sticks from Pottery Barn, and 2 picture frames.  I added a little bit of fall "stuff" to make it Halloween ready. I was looking at the Nesting Place and loved how "the nester" decorated for fall. I particularly liked the black crows. She made a comment about how she found them at the Dollar Tree. I thought, "My Dollar Tree will never have those cute crows!" But guess what..... they did! 


Here is the Nester's fall decorations. 


Here is my black crow. I put one on each side of the mantle. 
This project was so easy! I went and picked sticks from the yard, put them in the vase and attached
the black crow! 

I also put a black crow on the straw pumpkin that a got from the dollar isle at Target. 

Throughout the rest of the house, I scattered mini pumpkins and gourds. These pumpkins and gourds will last well in Thanksgiving. Then I can put them around a cornucopia.

Happy Fall Y'all! 

On a side note - I mentioned that Gunter went snapper fishing Saturday with friends. They caught the limit of snapper! I can't wait to eat some yummy fish!  

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Auburn Royalty

Last weekend a friend from work gave us her two tickets to the South Carolina vs. Auburn game. These weren't just any old tickets... these were CLUB level seats! These seats are right next to the press box. It was really exciting to see the "press people" running around and cheering during the game. Gunter and I decided that we were a step above the Scholarship section, but a step under the "glassed-in" box seats. We were high class! It was great! We had free yummy food and drinks, free programs, and free shakers. What was even better was that we were on the first row of the Club section. Boy we felt like "Auburn Royalty."
Gunter and I at the Auburn game

On top of our really good seats, and really good food, it was a wonderful game! Auburn won 35-27. Cam Newton played like a star, with several touchdowns! One thing I must say is that I am ready for the weather to cool down. Maybe when we head back to the Plains in a few weeks the temperature will be more "fall-like" and enjoyable! 

Going to finish my fall decorating around the house. Gunter is snapper fishing for the day... hope he catches a lot! Until next time.... WAR EAGLE!