Memaw

Please pray for Neal's grandmother, Memaw. She is in the hospital with blood clots near her heart. She just had hip replacement surgery a few weeks ago, so she's had a rough go of it the past few months. Please pray for her recovery, pain management and peace.

Introducing...

My sister-in-law! Loy, my brother's wife and my sweet sister-in-law, has joined us in the blogging world! I'm so excited for you guys to read all about my adorable nieces and nephew. Morgan is 11 (yikes!), the twins, Jacob and Payton are 4 and Addison (Addy) is 1. Todd and Loy live in Houston in a neighborhood down the street from my parents neighborhood where Neal's brother and sister-in-law happen to live as well. We are the only ones that don't live within a 5 mile radius...sad. Loy works at our old church in childcare. My parents also attend the same church and Adam (Neal's brother) is the Associate Music Minister there! See what we are missing out on all the way over here in Nashville? Anyway, Loy is an extremely experienced mom and is one of the sweetest and nicest people I know. I'm lucky my brother was smart enough to choose her as his bride! I always enjoy the time we get to spend together, its just not enough. So - go check out her blog, see how cute my nieces and nephew are and leave her a comment saying hi.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit to Nashville

Poppy

Neal's dad was in town for a few days to celebrate Christmas with us. The boys had a blast playing with Poppy and having him around for 2 days. They always love to have a willing participant to help them get the bad guys and to have someone to "fight" with. He was really brave and took both of them to Cracker Barrel Friday morning...I think they were all exhausted after that excursion! When we were talking about who would be going to Cracker Barrel, Sam told us that he wanted alone time with his brother and his Poppy! Thanks for coming Poppy! We love you!

My Sister-in-law

My sister-in-law, Laura, has been in town this week visiting with Neal's family. She and Adam (Neal's brother) have been married 5 years. I'm so glad that Adam had the good sense to pick a bride that I would love so much! It's always a special treat to get to spend time with Laura, and normally, we only get a few hours here or a day there when we are in Houston visiting. To have her at my house for 3 and half days was so much fun. We got to go to Starbucks and sit for awhile to talk about the Bible Study we are doing together (Believing God) and were able to encourage each other in person, rather than on the phone. We spent lots of time on the couch chatting, laughing, eating, sharing hair products and make up and just enjoying being together. It was so cool to have her at the baby shower so she could meet all of my friends and so they could meet her. Laura is one of the most encouraging, genuine people you will ever meet. She is so straightforward, honest and just so much fun to be around. I know that when I ask her to pray for something, that she is commited to following through with that request. She is very special to me and I'm so blessed to have her as my family and my friend. I love you Laura!

A Watson Family Visit

Neal's mom, brother and sister-in-law have been in town the past few days for an early Watson Family Christmas. It was really special to have us all together. It doesn't happen very often, especially getting them all up to Nashville. We had a wonderful time. We opened presents the first night they were here and Uncle Adam spent two days with Sam putting together the Leggo Spiderman set that Sam got from Mimi. You'll see a picture below of them hard at work, complete with their head lights to help them see all the teeny tiny leggos. Grandmother got the boys those head lights and they were a big hit. The boys spent alot of time with Aunt Laura and Mimi building with the Lincoln Logs too. The Living Room was a complete mess, but all the fun was worth the mess! On Thursday night, we went out to dinner and then headed over to the Opryland Hotel. It's beautiful all year round, but at Christmas, it's exceptionally gorgeous. We had fun walking around and looking at all the lights. We also loved seeing the Nativity Garden, with beautiful statues of the Nativity Scene. Friday afternoon, the boys and I dragged them to Pump It Up, so they could experience the joy of the bouncies! It was a hoot watching Mimi, Aunt Laura and Uncle Adam going down the slide (they will probably kill me for posting some of those pics, but it just shows how much fun they all had!) Once again, I was left on the bench to take pictures and watch them have fun. No preggos allowed on the bouncies. The boys loved having them all here. It's so sweet to see their individual relationships with each of them and to see how much the boys love their Aunt, Uncle and Mimi. We already miss you guys!

Houston

I had such a fun visit to Houston this weekend. First of all, flying on a plane all by myself was heavenly! I got to read, take a little nap and didn't have to worry about any one being disruptive! My mom picked me up from the airport with some bright yellow daisy's and told me that might be the only sunshine I saw all weekend (it almost was). We went and had a nice lunch at Cafe Express, we don't have those in Nashville, so that was a treat. Then we headed to my mom's office, where Cindy gave me an ultrasound. It was wonderful to see this new little life growing in my tummy. I was so relieved to see his little heart beating and him kicking around like crazy, I have been holding my breath for the last 15 months, and now, I finally feel like I can breath easier and enjoy this pregnancy. It was exciting to find out this early that he is a little boy. After the ultrasound, my mom and I went to Old Navy and she bought me some really cute dresses...not from the maternity section! I love the style these days, perfect for us preggos. Then I went to my dear friend, Carly's house because another dear friend, Amy was in town from Dallas. It was so good to see her, even though it was only for an hour. I always love being around Amy, she is the sweetest, kindest and funniest person ever. She makes me laugh all the time. Then, I went and hung out with my parents for the evening. They have a new little mexican food place they frequent weekly, so I was the guest of honor. The waiter knows them and didn't even have to ask what they wanted to order! They go that often! It was great to get to spend time with them, weird without the boys around, but so nice to get to visit and have them all to myself! On Saturday, I slept in and then Mom and I went to get Shipley's (again, we don't have those in Nashville) and went to see my brother, sister-in-law, 3 niece's and 1 nephew. Morgan is 10.5, she emails me now and every time I write her back I think she won't be able to read it, of course she can, but I can't believe she is old enough to read and type emails! I love her, she is my little munchkin, even though she is old enough to think Zac Ephron and Jesse Mcartney are cute. Payton is 3, and was wearing one of the Princess dresses (I'll never know all the princesses now with 3 boys!), she is so girly, which is so much fun, since Morgan is NOT into the girly thing. She kills me when she talks, because she has the cutest little voice and gets so excited when she is trying to tell you something. Jacob is Payton's twin brother. He breaks my heart, he has the sweetest little face and is just so sweet and innocent looking (although I'm sure Loy would say he isn't always so innocent or so sweet). He doesn't talk as much as Payton, because I think she talks for him! Addison is the baby, she is about 7 months and is teeny tiny. She can almost crawl and it's hysterical to see this little thing crawling around on the floor. She loves to watch what her sisters and brother are doing at all times, and yells at them. They are all so good with her and can make her laugh at the drop of a hat. It was fun to see them, Todd and Loy. After that, Carly came to pick me up and we went to The Woodlands to spend the afternoon shopping, with no kids in tow! Carly is pregnant as well, which is so much fun, since we have been pregnant together with our other 2 kids. Sam and Maggie are 2 weeks apart, Carly and Casey lived in Nashville when they were born, we had the same doctor and were each in the room when our first babies were born. They moved to Houston later, which was so sad. Gabe and Rory are 2 months apart, and now these 2 babies will be around 5 weeks apart! Both of us have had 2 miscarriages each and we still manage to be preggers together. It's so much fun. I love Carly...she is a lifelong friend. I knew her growing up, but we weren't really friends, we really got to know each other in Nashville and have been dear friends ever since. She is very wise and knowledgeable about so many things. She almost always knows the answer to any of my questions and is so good at helping me sort through things and just being there to listen to me. Even though she lives in Houston now, we usually talk at least once a week. She also has great fashion sense, so I always love shopping with her because I end up buying stuff I wouldn't normally buy. Like the silver flats and stripy leggings from Charming Charlies! That evening we met up with Laura and Shana at Lupe Tortilla (they have the best fajitas, in my opinion. Again, not one of these in Nashville and is my absolute favorite place to get messican in Houston). We got stuffed on fajitas and queso and got caught up with each other. Laura is my sister-in-law. Adam, Neal's brother, had the sense to marry someone that I would love dearly as my sister and my friend. Laura is the most encouraging person you could ever meet and has an infectious laugh. I sat next to her later that night when we went to see Hairspray and laughed more because I was sitting next to her. Shana and I have been best friends since 6th grade! Through all the changes life has brought us, we have remained close through all of it. The Lord has always brought us commonality in the midst of our different circumstances and we have been able to encourage, love and be honest with each other for so many years. I love her so much and would do anything for her. Now, if you want to go see Hairspray, make sure you go with your girlfriends, boys would be a bad thing in this movie. It's hysterical because it is so cheesey. I loved it! Our friend Kandice, who is actually my next door neighbor was in town too, so she and some of her friends met up with us for the movie. It was a blast. On Sunday, I went to breakfast with my parents and then my friend from elementary, middle and high school, Sarah came to pick me up with her daughter, Bella. The last time I saw Sarah was last year, in July, for our 10 year HS reunion. She, Cassidy and I were the best of friends growing up, so we all got to spend the weekend together and experience the reunion together. Anyway, Sarah and her husband have moved back to Houston and are both doing Doctor stuff. Sae just graduated med school and is doing her residency in Houston for Pediatrics. She is so smart and I am always fascinated to talk to her and ask her all my medical questions. It was fun to see her awesome condo in the Medical Center and see her as a mom to sweet little Bella. After our time together, she took me to the airport. My flight was delayed an hour, but I didn't mind. I had my book and the airport is SUCH a great place to people watch. I love sitting in one place and watching all the different people walk by and wondering what their story is. Neal and the boys picked me up from the airport. It was so good for me to see them all and so good for me to have been away so we could miss each other. The absence really does make the heart grow fonder! It was so good for them to have the weekend with just their Daddy. It was so great to get away, see my friends and family and have some time to myself to do my thing. I came back feeling refreshed and ready to jump back into my life with renewed...patience? energy?...renewed something at least!

IT'S ANOTHER BOY!

I had an ultrasound on Friday when I was in Houston (thanks again Cindy!) and there was no denying that this new baby is a boy! He made it very obvious, a few times. I kept asking Cindy to go back and check, just one more time, to be sure! I really didn't have a feeling either way, but wasn't expecting to be so surprised. Three boys is alot of boys, plus there's Neal, so that makes 4 boys living in my house! I was reminded again that the Lord is so gracious and faithful to give us what we need, just at the perfect time. I love His timing and His plan, it's always so fun to see how His plan unfolds in our lives. All of my boys birthdays will be within 4 months of each other, in the coldest months of Nashville! But, that means that all of Sam and Gabe's clothes will be in the right season for this little baby. Sam will just have turned 5 and Gabe will be turning 3, a few weeks after the new baby. I'll use Gabe's bedding, but I'm going to re-paint the nursery and decorate it differently. I'm not sure yet what I'll do, but I know it will come to me. I've still got alot of time until January! We are still discussing name options, our list isn't that long after going through it with the other two. We want something that fits with Sam and Gabe...I'll let you know when we decide, although Neal usually takes awhile to commit.

H-town

I'm off to Houston tomorrow morning for a fun weekend...and I'm going alone! Neal has been out of town so much the past few weeks, that I'm teetering on the edge of insanity! So, my sweet husband told me I could take our free SW flight and take a weekend to myself. I'm going to spend some time with some of my best friends, see some movies, sleep in, eat Mexican and shop! I'll have a full update next week...