Congrats Ashley!

Last night we went to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate Bradley's brother, Ashley's new job. We are so excited for you and proud of you Ashley! We can't wait to see what opportunities that the Lord will bring into your life through this new job.

The Waiting Game

Well, we're officially well into the waiting stages for Baby Wilkie's arrival. My doctor's office has begun to speak to us about inducing, which I've really had my mind set against doing my whole pregnancy. But, over the last few days and weeks, I've been praying about it a lot. And I've realized that ultimately I want what is best for this baby and what is the Lord's will. And if that means that I need to be induced, then so be it. I'll go on Friday for another non-stress test (where they monitor the baby's heart rate for 15 mins or so to see if he/she is getting proper nourishment and has a good amount of amniotic fluid). I had one yesterday and Baby Wilkie was doing great. We'll have another discussion about inducing with the doc on Friday. For the mean time, I've been praying that I'll go into labor this week in order to avoid the discussion altogether.

On a lighter note, yesterday Bradley and I were at the mechanics picking up one of our cars. (Since we have 3 vehicles and none are any newer than 8 years old...we see the mechanic often). Needless to say, he was suprised to see me without the baby (as all people have been lately). He told us a funny story about inducing labor and told us that we should try it. Someone he knew popped his wife on the head with a wooden spoon, which in turn caused her water to break right then. We laughed and laughed. It's really funny how many crazy things people will tell you to do to try to induce labor. (But you never know...if you see me in the next few days with a red and swollen forehead...you'll know why). :)

Please continue to pray for us and Baby Wilkie. It's amazing how quickly 9 months can breeze by and how slowly just a few days (the days after your due date) creep by. But, like I said before, we know that the Lord is in control and our desire is for His perfect timing to be in effect for our lives and the arrival of our child.

We'll keep you posted...

Gone to the Beach!

This past weekend Bradley and I were fortunate to go to the beach for a few days. A lot of things had to fall in to place in order for us to go, primarily, getting the doc's okay just 2 weeks before my due date. But everything worked out and we had a wonderful time!! Bradley's parents' friends, the Websters, allowed us to stay at their cute little place for the weekend. It was SO relaxing and the weather outside was beautiful! Both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Bradley went fishing on the beach and I just stayed at the little house, opened up the windows, kicked my feet up and relaxed. On Saturday we drove the truck around the neighboorhoods surrounding where we were and looked at the beach houses around. We also went to Morehead City for lunch. On Sunday we ate both breakfast and lunch outside on the little porch. Before lunch we walked around the little community where we stayed. Seriously, the weather was just beautiful outside. We said to each other over and over again just how awesome it was to get away one last time before Baby Wilkie arrives. Ken and Judy, you will never know just how much your generosity ministered to us! Thank you so much!



We really enjoyed sitting out on the deck overlooking the little pond behind the house.

Ready for baby

Well, unfortunately my next blog entry does not include pics of Baby Wilkie. But, I am so excited about the finished product of the nursery that I had to share.

37 weeks...Full Term!!

Well, we're officially full term! YES! The doc told us this week that if the baby is born now, there should be no cause for concern. Lungs and other organs should be fully developed. I never realized what a relief hearing that would really be! This week Bradley and I have worked diligently on getting the nursery together. All linens and clothes are washed. There is a sheet on the crib mattress. The diaper bag is mostly packed and what is not packed is sitting on the dresser right next to it ready to be thrown into the bag! Unfortunately, I think that it's going to be a long waiting game now. I have not yet had the desire to "Spring Clean" the entire house. There is still dirt behind my stove and the refrigerater still has yet to be wiped spotless. Ha ha ha...I doubt though that I'll have that "nesting" instinct. I'm not really one to have everything spotless, although I did think a couple of days ago about dusting the ceiling fan in our room...but only because the baby will be sleeping right under it for a few weeks/months.

Please continue to pray for us. Bradley is starting to get really busy at work and has a few more weeks of planning and organizing to do before he can feel comfortable taking time off. Please pray that the labor and delivery will go smoothly for me. And finally and most importantly, please pray that our little boy or girl will be born healthy with no complications. We are SO incredibly blessed that the Lord has entrusted us to be parents.

What a difference!

I really shouldn't admit this...but this is the same shirt worn at 19 weeks and 34 weeks pregnant! Ha ha ha...

As the days and weeks to my due date are winding down...Bradley and I are getting more and more excited to meet precious Baby Wilkie. The nursery is getting closer and closer to getting finished and we've even started thinking about packing a bag soon. Early on in the pregnancy we thought that these days would never come, but thankfully time has flown by and we are less than 40 days (ish) from meeting our little one. Our friends and family have been so supportive and it means so much to us to receive all of the calls and emails inquiring about how we're doing. What a special and joyous time this has been. We'll be sure to keep posting updates as they come! Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Winter Wonderland...in Coats?!?

The very same day that Bradley and I were in Boone, Central NC had a huge snow...the biggest in at least 5 or more years! The roads were totally clear until we got closer to home too! Amazing.


As we were driving into Harnett County we noticed the beautiful look of the Cape Fear River in Lillington. We drive over this bridge all of the time...at least once a week for sure! But never have we seen it look this amazing.


This is the pond down the street from our house. When it is warmer outside (and before we had our lovely fenced in backyard) we walk Baxter down here. He loves to jump in the water and chase the frogs...although I don't know how eager to get in the water he'd be today! :)


Another shot of the pond. One of the neighboorhood kids built a tiny little snowman on the picnic table.

This was our first view of our house after the snow. We measured the snow in the front yard last night and it was 6 1/2 inches, although, I'm convinced that there are deeper spots. I measured in a spot that looked like it wasn't very deep.

I just love the look of the woods covered with snow.

Bradley is about to let Baxter out of his dog run. The snow was so thick that it had covered the links on the chain link fence so we could barely see him. He was so happy that we were home!

The woods in our backyard. They definitely don't look this pretty without the snow! :)

The other side of the backyard.

We weren't sure what Baxter would do in the snow. He's been in very little snow in his lifetime. But he absolutely loved it. He was leaping through it and rolling around on his back. He just wanted to play and play and play.

Baxter was so happy to play in the snow with Bradley!

Bradley and Baxter playing in the snow.

Babymoon!

Well, it's getting towards the end of the pregnancy and we decided that we wanted to get away from the house for a little while one last time before the baby comes. Since Bradley's work schedule is picking up on the weekends, we thought that this week was our best bet to get away. We went to Boone (which we both LOVE to go to) and it ended up snowing! We were able to see Jarrett and Lara and meet their precious newborn Colby. It was a quick overnight stay, but it was wonderful.

We had just pulled up to the hotel and it was just starting to snow. The snow got heavier as the day progressed and really started coming down that evening. Unfortunately, my feet have been swelling so I'm limited to wearing crocs all of the time so my socks were kind of wet if I stepped in the snow. But, I didn't care...I was just so happy to be in Boone!


We were on our way to meet Jarrett and Lara for dinner. This time I decided to bundle up, but I still had those crocs on! :)


Sweet Colby Whiteside. He is so precious!

Not only did we get to hang out with Jarrett, Lara and Colby, but we were able to go out to dinner at a yummy Japanese place. What a treat!

When we got back to the hotel the snow was really coming down! We rarely get photos of us together in the snow so we couldn't pass this up!

The next morning the snow had tapered off around 11:00 so on our way out of town we decided to drive up to a high point in Boone to overlook the town. About halfway up, we came across a wrecker truck trying to get someone out of a ditch. So, we were forced to back down the mountain (not far, but it was still scary) to the nearest driveway so that we could turn around. I was totally scared and could feel my heart pounding! The funny thing too was that the baby started to react to my nervousness...he/she started kicking and punching like you wouldn't believe! Thankfully we were turned around safely and just started to head home. This pic is of the mountainside as Bradley was backing down. I was trying to take my mind off of what we were doing. :)

On our way out of town we drove by Jarrett and Lara's new house to take a pic during the day. (We'd seen it the night before but it was too dark to take a pic). This picture is taken from the road as we were making our way to their house. I just think that this area of the state is so breathtakingly beautiful!

Jarrett and Lara's new home. They should be moving into it any day now. We can't wait to visit them in their new home. It is beautiful!

Working on the nursery!

Over the last few weeks, Bradley and I have finally begun working on setting up the nursery. We have pulled up the old carpet and put down new carpet (thanks Papa), painted the base boards and put them back on and put together all of the furniture. It's still not a finished product, so I'll post more pics once I get it all set up. :)

Old carpet has been pulled up and the new padding and carpet is ready to be installed.

Bradley is putting the base boards back on after I sanded them down and painted them. I felt so accomplished that I actually did some "work" on the room. Yes, I used sand paper! He he he!!(We painted the walls the color that we wanted when we moved into our house last year and I'm just keeping that color and accenting it with greens and cream colors for the baby.)

Bradley is putting together my glider.

And here am I enjoying the glider! Thankfully he put this together first, so when he was putting together the crib I had a place to sit other than the floor (it is getting more and more difficult to get off of the floor lately).

I love the crib.

And finally we put together the stoller (which is a total travel system with a baby carrier and everything). I just can't wait to put my precious little child in this room!

New Year's Eve

This year for New Year's, we invited some friends over for lasagna. We had a wonderful time with everyone and are so thankful for the friendships that we have here in Coats. 2009 will be a wonderful year for us all because everyone that came to our house will either have a new child of their own in '09 or will have a new child (or 2) in their family. Bradley and I truly had a blessed 2008 and look forward to what 2009 will bring us. Happy New Year!