Iron Bowl

~November 26, 2010~

..... WAR EAGLE BABY ......

AUBURN 28 - ALABAMA 27

~Bradley, Blake, and Matt~

 ~Sweet baby girl Mattilee~

~Love it :)~

~Matti even shared with Sam~

~Me & Matti~

~Me, Matti, and Katy~

{9 1/2 weeks}

Thanksgiving

~ November 25, 2010 ~
Telling my grandparents...
I sat next to my Granddaddy & showed him the sonogram pictures, he asked "Is that a baby?" & I said "Yes!" he then asked "Are you pregnant?" & I said "Yes!" He just hugged my neck & didn't want to let go...haha! Eloise was super excited also.
{I wish I would've had Eloise sit next to us so she could be in the pictures too...but I was too anxious}
It was funny because before we got to my parents house, my grandparents were asking my parents who they thought would have kids first & when...I think my grandparents had given up on Bradley & I...haha! They are ready for some great-grandbabies :)

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Thanksgiving

~We LOVE our dogs!~

~It was such a beautiful day to sit outside~

~Thanksgiving is not complete without football~

~My Dad, brother Blake & husband Bradley~

~9 weeks~

~Papaw was pooped~

Dinner Celebration

~November 17, 2010~

Bradley & I went to dinner at Flemings to celebrate our baby news :) 

{8 weeks}

Natalie's Bridesmaids Luncheon

~ November 14, 2010 ~ 

Natalie is the little sister of my best friend of 20 years {yep, loooong time}, so she is like a little sister to me. 

She had a wonderful luncheon at Ruth's Chris & definitely has a wonderful group of ladies to stand next to her on her wedding day :)

~The Bride, sister/Matron Lyndsey & I~

{7 1/2 weeks}

~Lyndsey & I ... Best Friends of 20 years~

~Alé, Lyndsey & I~

The Bride with her Bridesmaids & Flower Girls

First Ultrasound

~November 10, 2010~

Baby Runnels at 7 weeks, 1 day

 

One week after finding out I was pregnant, I had my first doctor's appointment. Since I had a little spotting, the doctor wanted me to have an ultrasound to check on Baby R! Bradley & I were able to see our little peanut & hear his/her heartbeat, which was 127 bpm. It was very emotional for the both of us! Hearing the heartbeat made it all so surreal! We were excited to know that Baby is okay and is growing right on track! God is good!!!!!!!!

Baby Runnels is due on or around June 27, 2011!!!  

Telling the family...

We got this picture frame to surprise both sets of grandparents. I put a picture of the positive pregnancy tests & a poem in the frame.  The poem was so sweet, it reads: 

I do not have a face to see, or put inside a frame

I do not have cheeks to kiss; I don't yet have a name.

You can't hold my tiny hands, nor whisper in my ear

It's still too soon to sing a song, or cuddle me so near. 

But all will change come June 27th, when they say I'm due

I'm your new grandson/granddaughter, I can't wait till I meet you.

All I ask between now and then, is your patience while I grow

I promise I'll be worth the wait, because of all the love we'll know. 

So as you're waiting patiently, please pray lots of prayers for me

I cannot wait to be a part of this wonderful family! 

{Note: We had EVERYONE thinking we were going to wait about another year to start "trying"...only b/c I wanted everyone to be totally surprised...and it worked! See below}

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The night after Bradley & I found out I was pregnant we had my parents over for dinner(Thursday 11.4.10). My mom & I were going to Christmas Village that Friday & I HAD to tell her before then :) While the steaks were cooking I told Bradley that something was wrong with my camera & asked him to fix it...really my camera was fine I just wanted him to take pictures of me telling my parents :) 

Every time my parents come over I show my mom things that I have bought, so I showed them the grandparent frame(above) and my mom said "Why are you showing us this knowing that we aren't grandparents?" {you have to know my mom to understand how funny that statement was} but as you can tell in the first picture below, my Dad was studying it & said "Rhonda, I think that is what they are telling us!" The look on their faces were PRICELESS! 

And yes, that's a tear in my Dad's eye{last collage pic} :) 

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After Christmas Village (11.5.10), my mom & I had to take my Aunt home to my Papaw Buck's house. It was the perfect time to tell him the "baby news." I handed him a picture of the positive pregnancy tests, he just starred at it then turned it around the other way and turned it again...finally my mom said "Papaw, do you know what that is?" and he said "No"...it was so funny! I didn't even think that he might not know what the little sticks were...it has been about 60+ years since he had a child & they probably didn't even have pregnancy tests back then...haha! {Notice the way Papaw is holding & looking at the picture versus the way I am holding the picture...he's looking at it the wrong way..haha}

He is 90 years old...bless his heart!

 I finally explained it to him, showing him the 2 lines & + sign indicating I am pregnant! He was really happy for Bradley & I. And once Baby R gets here, we will have *5* generations!!! I got a 4 Generations picture made at my wedding & cannot wait to get a 5 Generations picture made at the hospital!

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The next night we had dinner at Bradley's parents house(Friday 11.5.10). While we were all in the kitchen getting ready to eat, Bradley handed his parents the same grandparent frame. His mom read the entire thing (she's too funny) before realizing what we were telling them. Their reactions were also PRICELESS! Bradley's dad picked me up & swung me around with excitement...I still had the camera in my hand so Bradley couldn't get a picture of it. 

While eating Bradley's sister came home for a few minutes so we were able to tell her the good news. As you can tell, she was soooooooo excited...and started doing a victory dance :) 

*Aunt LaLa*

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On Sunday (11.7.10), we stopped by the Birmingham Fire Dept. to tell my little brother. I gave him a card that said "Congratulations" on the outside, and on the inside I wrote "You're going to be an Uncle." You can tell by the huge smile on his face that he was excited. He always talks about taking his nephew/niece to play on the fire trucks :)

*Uncle Brandon*

Then, we stopped by Blake & Amanda's house to tell them. My parents had stopped by on their way home from the lake house so they were able to see their reactions too :) We just kind of came up with something at the last minute of how to tell them, hoping it would work out. While they were eating dinner I showed them the pictures of mom & dad's expressions(above) and Blake said exactly what we were hoping he would say "What are they doing?" and I said "This was their reactions when we told them I am pregnant!" See their reactions below...yes, I probably should've waited until they were finished eating but I was too excited. 

*Uncle Blake & Aunt Mana*

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And finally, on our way home we stopped by Lyndsey & Daniel's to give Lyndsey {my BF since 2nd grade} her Birthday present. After she opened her present, I gave her a birthday card & signed it "We Love You! Nikki, Bradley, & Baby Runnels" As you can tell, she was shocked..but so happy!

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My Granny Billie came to Birmingham to stay a few nights so my Mom brought her over to visit. My granny was sick & not feeling well so they couldn't stay long. I told Granny that I wanted to show her something, once I sat on the couch I gave her the sonogram pictures...she was so surprised & excited! 

{She is probably going to kill me for posting these pictures of her but I have to document it :)}

*Grams*

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Bradley called his Aunt Annie, who lives in Nashville, to tell her the news. {We were going to be visiting her for a weekend in December but just couldn't wait another month to tell her.} 

While on the phone with her he emailed her this picture:

Then, he told her to check her email.  He had her on speaker phone so I could record her reaction...she was so very excited too! 

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FYI: Baby Runnels is the first grandbaby on both sides so I have a feeling that this little peanut is going to be SPOILED to pieces!

Little Blessing!

On Wednesday, Nov. 3rd, at 7:25am I was so SHOCKED when I saw the 2 pink lines on the pregnancy test. I felt so many emotions, I was terrified, then excited, then I just cried & cried. I immediately called my doctor to setup an appointment for the following week. I spent the rest of the day trying to come up with how I wanted to tell Bradley...it was hard for me to concentrate b/c every time I looked at anything "baby" I would start crying...kind of embarrassing but it was such an emotional day for me.

I surprised Bradley that night when he got home from work, I told him I had a gift for him...I do this occasionally  & I am always taking pictures so neither seemed "odd" to him. He was confused at first...he would look down at the "surprises" in the box then look back up at me several times, speechless...he kept saying "what is this"...finally, it hit him & he broke down into tears. It was the sweetest thing & just melted my heart. 

I took another pregnancy test because Bradley was curious as to how it worked. He never took his eyes off the stick & just stared at it the entire 3 minutes. After 4 positive tests, he gets the idea & he is super excited!