sweet Texas friends

Since moving to Tennessee, we've been blessed by sweet friends from Texas coming to visit!!! It has been so special to spend time with these sweet friends, introduce them to our church family, and show them our new home. We've had fun showing them around Music City, and our tour guide skills have improved a little bit each time!

January: Mark and Tara

Keith and Mark were roommates at ACU, and he and Tara have been dear friends of ours ever since. We always pick up right where we left off, stay up late, and have the best conversations with them! This visit was extra special because Tara and I were both pregnant, so we had lots of conversations about becoming parents:) We can't wait to meet sweet Jaxon!!

rockin' out!

waiting in line at Pancake Pantry on a cold winter morning....totally worth it:)

March: Spruce, Jacquie, Lynlee, and Kyndall

Jacquie and I were in club together at ACU and had lots of education classes together. We started hanging out with her and Spruce soon after we got married. We would hang out at least two or three times a week, playing games, watching TV, cooking, and sharing teaching and ministry ideas! They are such special friends. We've spent several spring breaks with them since they moved from Abilene a few years before we did. It was sweet of them to make the long drive to spend their spring break with us this year! We absolutely love their precious girls, Lynlee and Kyndall!!!

family pic at the Loveless Cafe...a Nashville hot spot with the most delicious biscuits ever!

the sweet girls were adorable in their matching coats:)

Jacquie and Kendall

Lynlee and me

May: Nick, Lauren, Emmy, and David

Keith and Lauren became friends when Keith's family moved to Jackson his freshman year of high school and have remained friends since then. Nick and I easily joined the friendship when we started dating the two of them:) During our last six months in Abilene, Nick, Lauren, and Emmy moved there!! It was such a blessing to have such good friends in town! We had lots of fun game nights and learned some great recipes from them. They were even sweet enough to help us with our home renovation!! Emmy was always such a joy, and after we left Abilene, they had sweet David! This is another precious family!!

family pic while David naps

Keith and Emmy

me with both precious kiddos!

July: Augie and Ashley

Ashley and I have been best friends since I moved to Roby in eighth grade and she invited the new girl to her slumber party:) We've remained friends since high school. We had fun working summers at BCEC together during college! Ashley and I have shared so many special parts of life together. We've had lots of serious conversations and had more than our share of silly moments, too:) We stood beside one another on our wedding days. Ashley and Augie got married last October. They make such a great couple! It was neat to spend more time getting to know Augie!

We picked them up at the airport and we matched:) Here we are at the factory in Franklin.

Ashley was brave and asked Waylon if we could have a picture with him at the Outlaws' game!

4th of July...everyone else went with blue and white, and I was the loner sportin' red and white...at least all three colors were represented:)

Loveless Cafe for some coouuntry ham and biscuits! We matched again without planning it:) I guess that's what happens when you're friends for SIXTEEN years!!!

maternity pictures!!!

Our sweet friend from church has an artistic eye and is really good at taking pictures. This morning, she took maternity pictures for us, and we've already gotten them back!!! We had so much fun and are really happy with how they turned out! What a fun way to document such a special time in our life!!

Click on the link to see more of Kendall's creativity at Bristles, Brushes, and Bows Boutique! She sells lots of adorable, hand-made, personalized gifts.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

from teacher to mama

The sweet teachers at my school threw me a surprise baby shower!!! It was so much fun!

I've loved working with this sweet group of teachers. I was pretty nervous about joining the big, scary world of middle school, but these teachers have made me feel so welcome! Middle school was not so big and scary after all:) The kids were taller and could tie their own shoes but were still very sweet! I still got hugs and sweet notes, and enjoyed going to school each day.

My mom has been a teacher most of my life, and I spent many hours in her classroom. Then, at ACU, I spent four years preparing and learning to be a teacher, and for the last seven years, I have been a school teacher. Teaching school has been who I am. It's been a huge part of my identity. I loved building relationships with my students and fellow teachers. I loved reading to children. I loved helping children learn to read independently. I loved helping children learn to solve problems. I loved giving them a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a hug, or a high five.

After much thought, prayer, and conversation, Keith and I have decided that I am not going to teach school next year. I know that I will miss teaching. I'll miss preparing my classroom as school starts next year. I'll miss the excitement of getting to know a new group of kids. I'll miss spending time with a diverse group of young people everyday. But, I am thrilled to be able to stay home with my sweet son. I'm excited to snuggle, play, and teach Carson! Teaching has been special, and I know I can always go back and teach again someday, but I am thankful and excited for this new chapter in my life!

Here are pictures from Carson's baby shower. These teachers, who I only worked with for one year, were so thoughtful and generous. Carson and I will definitely be going to visit them next year:)

Here are the the sweet sixth grade hostesses and host!

Justin was brave to join so many oooing and awwing women!

The other host had football practice:) We missed you, Brad!

the cute and very yummy turtle cake:)

the gift table and CUTE diaper cake made by sweet Tracy!!

my sweet friend Jill

opening lots of sweet and thoughtful gifts for baby Carson!!!

growing belly

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of my growing belly, and it is certainly growing! So, here are some pictures of the last several weeks. Things are going really well. I'm enjoying being pregnant. My favorite part is feeling my sweet boy move and kick inside me! It is absolutely wonderful!!!!

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

(my photographer was at Pepperdine!)

27 weeks

28 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks

the nursery!!!

My sweet parents, aka "Pops and Granny," came to visit while I was on spring break, and it was such a special time! We talk on the phone all the time, but I was so excited for them to see me pregnant and get to share this special time of life with them in person:) We worked lots on sweet Carson's room and enjoyed a little relaxing and game playing, too!!

This is a before picture of the nursery (formerly craft/office/laundry/catch-all room).

Step #1: Find a place of all of this crafty/officy stuff!!!

Step #2: Shopping for paint, fabric, and other odds and ends!

Steps #3, 4, and 5: Mama and Keith put together furniture and painted!!!!

They worked hard!!

Daddy and I helped here and there as needed!

We provided some entertainment for the hard workers;)

And....HERE IT IS!!!!

We were all so pleased with how it turned out!!!

I love going in his room and thinking about him being in there soon!!!

In fact, that's where I'm sitting now!! It only seemed appropriate for this post:)

Our first purchase was the painting of the daddy and baby hands with the scripture, "How great is the love the Father lavished on us, that we should be called children of God" (I John 3:1). Keith and I got it in early December on our trip to Gatlinburg, before we told anyone I was pregnant!!!! We both loved it and knew it would be perfect in our baby's room.

We looked at a lot of cribs and dressers and decided on dark brown. We found a crib we really liked online and had it shipped here. We knew that we didn't want to get a separate changing table and dresser; we wanted to find something that would serve both purposes and could stay with him long after his baby days are over. The challenge is, most dressers aren't very tall. We finally found one we loved, but the closest one to us was five hours away and the shipping would have been very expensive. Mama and Daddy were so sweet and bought it for us!!! They picked it up in Texas and brought it!!! We're very thankful for their generosity!! I was hoping the crib and dresser colors would match, but it's hard to tell online. I was really excited when we opened the box and saw what a great match they were!! We found the bookcase, in the same dark brown espresso at Target, and guess what? The product name is "Carson"!! Isn't that fun?!!

Originally, I wanted to make the bedding. Ahem, I wanted Carson's grandmas to make the bedding;) But, after looking and looking, we could not find any fabric that we loved. We just wanted something simple a blue and green or blue and brown set with a solid, stripe, and polka dot...I didn't think that was too complicated. I really wasn't trying to be picky, but all of the cute fabric had pink!! So, instead we found this adorable blue and brown turtle bedding, and guess what? It was blue and brown and had the cute and simple stripes and polka dots we'd been searching for!!! We ordered the four piece bedding set, an extra sheet, the turtle mobile, and the valance. We decided not to order the drapes, because they were pretty pricey for two straight pieces of fabric. Mama said we could find some matching fabric and make them ourselves; I had looked at fabic a lot and was not convinced we'd find any. But, she was right, thanks to Keith's keen eye, we did!!! It's actually cuter than the pricey one that came with the set! Of course the store we were in didn't have enough. But, after several patient phone calls, Keith found another store about thirty more miles down the road that did!!! So, he and Daddy went and got it while Mama and I went to Motherhood Maternity!!! She and Daddy bought me lots of new maternity clothes for my birthday, which was another sweet blessing!!! It's nice to have lots more fun clothes options and feel cute:)

We used the cricut to cut his name out of brown vinyl and display above his bed. I knew I wanted it to be fairly big, but simple, and I think it turned out great!! We also got a changing pad and more fabric for that. Mama made two cute covers for it, too:) We already had the lamp, and Mama painted it blue!! I really wasn't trying to be a slacker....I'm just not the best seamstress and was trying to stay away from the paint fumes!! I got to make lots of fun decisions, while they did lots of the work! I already had the books and stuffed animals from my days in first grade. A couple of the sweet toys and rattles are gifts that Carson has already gotten from Misty, Mama, and Margo!! Don't worry, we will fill those empty picture frames soon:)

I should have taken a picture of the closet, too. It already has some cutie clothes hanging up!! We gotten him a couple things and so have his grandparents. The multi-colored chest of drawers from my first grade classroom that you saw in the before picture fit in the closet and will be great for storage!

We had a great time with Mama and Daddy, and we are thankful for all of the progress we made! Keith's parents, who still need to decide on grandparent names:), were able to come see the nursery and they loved it too!! Our sweet sisters loved it from pictures:) So, we all LOVE it, and we know Carson will too!!! Having his room ready, along with me looking more and more pregnant, is making it all seem more and more real everyday!!

We have loved our time as a family of two and would not trade the special time just being a couple, but we are soooo excited about our family of three!!!

What's in a name?

Naming our baby was quite a job! So much of a person's identity is related to his or her name. It stays with you from birth until death. It is a big decision to make for someone else. But, like so many big decisions, the reason they feel so big is because it is such an honor to make them! I've been wanting to talk about possible baby names for years, but Keith always said it was silly to spend too much time thinking about names before we were pregnant. Nonetheless, I've had a running list of possibilities for several years and have convinced him to talk about them from time to time. When we got pregnant, Keith teased that we might as well wait until we knew the baby's gender. However, I pointed out that we should have a boy and girl name picked out, that way when we found out the gender, we could begin calling him or her by his or her real name! Most of our conversations surrounding names involved me thinking of names, and Keith telling me all the reasons each name was not a good idea. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that he was looking out for our baby and wanting to avoid names with obvious fun-making possibilities, but sometimes I did get frustrated that he would nix my ideas and not come up with any to replace them! We did not make our final decision until the car ride on the way to the doctor the morning of our gender appointment. So, without further ado, our sweet baby boy's name is......

Carson Robert Clark

Carson

My dad's mom's maiden name was Carson. She passed away before I was born. In fact, she passed away on my dad's twenty-first birthday. My dad and his mama were very close. Even though I never got to meet her, I have heard many stories from him and other family members about what a kind, gentle person she was. She was sick for much of her life, but she did not let her sickness define her. She was an incredible artist, and a loving wife, mother, sister, and friend. My dad has a lot of his mom's qualities. He is also kind, gentle, and loving. He loves his family dearly and would do anything for us. He's also got a great sense of humor! He is so excited to become Pops, and he loves Carson so much already! We loved the idea of naming our baby after someone special, and Carson has been at the top of my list for a long time. So, to honor my dad and his sweet mama, we decided to name our baby boy Carson.

Robert

Keith's middle name and his dad's first name are Robert. Since Carson's first name is in honor of his maternal grandpa, we wanted his middle name to honor his paternal grandpa and his daddy. Keith and his dad have both dedicated their lives to bringing people closer to God. They are dedicated students of theology, they love conversation, are not afraid to challenge old ways of thinking, and work to push themselves and others to reach beyond the status quo. They both love music, basketball, and their families! They are thrilled to become a grandpa and daddy!

Carson is moving while I type this post. I think that means he's excited about his name and what it means!! I hope and pray that he has some of the same qualities as name sakes!

hoppy easter

We've been taking lots of pictures of me throughout the pregnancy, but I realized Keith and I hadn't taken any pictures together in a while, so on Easter Sunday, we did just that! I hope all of you were blessed on Easter and were filled with hope!

22 weeks