Wow, how my life has changed since the last time I posted. Bentley Grace Thornburg was born on September 22, 2011 at 10:05 am. She weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. With one look at her beautiful face I was instantly in love. I will always be amazed and how intensely I loved her the first time I set eyes on her. She is absolutely perfect in every way possible. It is hard to believe that she is over a month old now. It already makes me sad to think about how fast time is flying by. I want it to slow down because I know she will only be this little for a very short time. I am soaking up every second I have with this baby. I am holding all I want, even though people are accusing me of spoiling her, because I know of all the years she will be my baby I will only have months to hold her like this. I love you so much Bentley!!

           I know that I haven’t blogged in months, so here is a very real, honest, eye opening blog about what has been going on in my life/head these days. I am now 21 days away from due date, and I promise I am very, very excited about meeting Bentley Grace for the first time. I have wondered who she will look like. Danson says she is going to look just like him… so we will soon find out. I have been so emotional the past two weeks. I told Danson I feel like there is an alien in my body and that I have no control over my emotions. Welcome to pregnancy, I guess. I’m sure Danson is so ready for me to have this baby too. I can’t tell you how many times in the past two weeks he has walked into a room only to find me sitting there with tears rolling down my cheeks for no reason. When he asks what’s wrong, all I can say is I don’t know.

            On top of the emotional roller coaster I am on right now, I also feel like the most insecure person in the world. Now, I have never been insecure before so this is all new to me. I have never put too much thought into my appearance before. Don’t get me wrong, I do like to look presentable, but I have never been one to spend 2 hours getting ready or a person who steps on the scale every morning. It is hard not to focus on your weight when you get weighed every week or two at the doctor. I tell Danson all the time that I am the size of a billboard. So, if you have any marketing to do just make me a shirt to wear, I promise you can’t miss me these days. I think one issue that I have is not knowing if, or how hard it is going to be to lose the weight once the baby comes. I also can’t tell you the last time I went to church and didn’t have at least two people comment on my weight or size… mostly older men. What makes an old man think he has the right to comment on a pregnant woman’s size is beyond me. Do they really think it is funny to me? Do they hear me talking about how pruney (sp?) they look or how their belly is just as big as mine, or the fact that they have no hair? I did tell one of the greeters the other day how I felt about it. As I am walking in the door, that he holding open for me, he says, “oh, let me back up so have enough room to get in.” I just looked at him and said, just wait until you are in the nursing home. I will not be organizing any trips to come see you. Luckily he thought I was joking, even though I really wasn’t.

            I will wrap things up by saying that I can’t wait until I feel normal again. I can’t wait until getting out of bed doesn’t take three minutes and I’m not getting up four times a night to pee. I can’t wait to be able to walk and not waddle and every piece of food I put in my mouth doesn’t give me heartburn. I can’t wait to be able to take this fat suit off. But, most all, I can’t wait to look Bentley Grace in the eye and tell her how much I love her and that I would have stayed pregnant for 9 more months if that’s what it took to have her as my precious daughter.

*** Nursery blog and pictures are coming soon. J  

The last couple of weekends have been pretty packed with a whole bunch of fun stuff. Weekend before last, on Saturday, I spent the day with Daniley and Brayden swimming. They both loved the water. Daniley looked like a little fish swimming around and Brayden loved his float.

Then on Sunday, Father's Day, Brayden had his baby dedication at First Baptist Church Columbiana. He looked so handsome and he did such a great job.



Giving Dad some love on Father's Day



This past weekend Danson and I took a very entertaining beach trip with his parents. Here are some of the pictures Danson took one night at sunset.

Danson also found him a new shirt while at the beach. I have to admit, he does look pretty dang cute in it. :-)



For those of you who that don't know Daniley Connell, our niece, you are missing out! She has a way of looking up at you with her beautiful blue eyes and asking for something in the sweetest, most angelic voice. Saying no to her is very hard, if not impossible to do. She spends every Monday night with Danson's Mawmaw, so every Monday night that is normally where you can find us. Last night while visiting, she asked if she could come to our house for a little while. Once we got home, she pretty much had the freedom to do whatever she wanted. At one point I walked into the nursery and she had the Johnny Jump Up attached to the rail of the crib and was in the process of climbing into it. I told Danson to keep an eye on her so I could get supper started. I was in the kitchen and I heard this, "Unc, you are doing such a good job. It looks so gorgeous!" I rounded the corner and this is what I found.



I think Bentley is going to have a pretty great Dad!!

Here is a little video, and once again I filmed it the wrong way. I promise I will get better at this.

I do realize that "video cameraing" is not a real word. LOL!!!

Fun on the Farm



One thing that Brayden loves to do when he comes to visit is go down and see the chickens. He crawls over to the door, bangs on it really loud, and says, “bock, bock!!” He continues to do this until we have loaded up in the stroller and have headed down that way. Once we get there, I park the stroller in front of the coupe and he happily sits there and watches the chickens. I think he could be content to sit there for an hour, but I don’t have that much patience.

Here is a little video of him talking to me and the chickens

Sorry. I can't figure out how to flip it. :-(

So, Danson and I are expecting our first child on September 21, 2011. It's a girl and her name will be Bentley. We haven't decided on a middle name yet and I'll let you know when we do. I have had a ton of things running through my mind since we found out it was a girl. I have never doubted the pregnancy for a minute, but it seems like it has taken on a whole new meaning now knowing what the sex is. The baby is not an "it" anymore, it is a "she". I have thought many things and prayed many prayers for Bentley. My main prayer has been, "Lord, please do not let her act like me. Please give her the gift of her daddy's soft, sweet, easy going personality. Allow her to develop his gentle spirit that hardly ever gets angry and never speaks a harsh word about anyone. I pray that she will develop his skill to manage money. I pray that you will mold her into the child of Yours that she is, and I pray that she will see You through the way her Dad and I live. I pray that we will be able to teach and show her how to surrender to Your love one day and I hope that she strives to become more and more like You...." I have also said numerous prayers concerning Danson and me. I pray that God will shape us into the parents that He would have us be. I have worried about so many things. I was caught so off guard by this pregnancy that I have had the feeling of not being ready pretty much the whole time. I have also realized that this pregnancy was in God's plan so therefore, He will make me/us ready. I have wondered if I will instill in Bentley what she will need to be successful in life and successful in her daily walk with Christ. Will I give her too much or too little? Will I discipline enough? Will she know that no matter what I will always love her? I have looked back on my childhood and the way I was raised. I remember getting things that I wanted, and going shopping for clothes before school started every year. I remember making out my Christmas list and then rushing into the living room to see what was under the Christmas tree. However, while those memories are wonderful, they are not the memories that really stand out. The fondest memories I have are times spent with just family. I remember when the blizzard came through in 1993 and we all had to sleep in the living room. It lasted for about a week, and every night a member of our family would tell a story while we were falling asleep. I remember the countless afternoons Mom, Bethany, Jordan and I would spend in the backyard playing baseball, and the time my Mom took the time to plan a scavenger hunt through out the whole 4-H club for me to find my birthday present - a bike. I can't tell you what color the bike was or if it had a horn, but I can tell you the fun my Sister and I had figuring out the clues to each spot and looking for the next clue card and then finally rounding the corner to see my Mom standing beside a bike with a huge bow on it.
So, I have decided that I will make mistakes with Bentley. I will do things the wrong way, I will say the wrong thing, and I will learn that just because she thinks her world is crumbling around her because of something her father or I have done, she will, despite what she thinks, live through it. I know that Danson is going to make a wonderful father and I know that I will make a great Mother. I know that Bentley will have more love from family that she will ever know what to do with. And I also know that God is preparing Danson and me for September 21, 2011 every single day. I can't wait to meet you Bentley!!

So, this last weekend was a rough one. If you've been reading my blog, you know that I got the "stomach virus" back in Feb. of this year. It was terrible!! Danson, Bethany, Mom, Meemaw, Pawpaw and me all came down with it within a 24 hour period. It was one of the worst ones I have ever had and it was the first one that Danson had ever experienced.

Well, Saturday was my nephew's first birthday party. I woke up Saturday and started to get ready and about half way through I started feeling really nauseated. I just assumed this was another lovely side affect to pregnancy and continued on with the process. I  got to the party and was feeling horrible. I was able to stay for about an hour before I knew that I had it again, the dreaded stomach virus. I drove home absolutely heart broken because I was having to miss Brayden's first birthday party. Actually, I am tearing up as I type this. The sickness lasted all day Sat. and then Sunday was Mother's day. I was very weak on Sunday but I was feeling much better. I was able to spend then day with my Mom and Grandmother's and even got to spend the afternoon with Danson's Mom and family. By the time we got home I was completely drained. Needless to say, I am praying that I don't get this a third time during this pregnancy. I'm sure Bentley was wondering what in the world was going on when I made my very frequent trips to the bathroom. :-)

I found my camera cord!!

Here are some pictures from last weekend.

Waiting on Danslen to arrive

Getting a nap in before the big debut

Fun times

What a weekend!!!

Well, we had a very eventful weekend. On Thursday, our niece, Danslen Jane Connell, made her entrance into the world. She is absolutely perfect in every way. I have pictures I will post later...when I can find my camera cord. :-/ For now, I will have to steal a pic off my SIL's blog. Hope you don't mind Danica. :-)

As you can see, I have two of the most beautiful nieces anyone could ever ask for.

Then, Thursday night Daniley came home to spend the night with us, and boy did we have fun. I might add that this was a very successful sleep over. YAY!!!

When we got home we had so many fun things we wanted to do. I had planned to dye Easter eggs, make Easter cupcakes, let her get a bubble bath - one of her favorite things to do, etc. Well, by the time we got home it was around 5:00pm. I knew we wouldn't have time to do everything, so we scratched cupcakes from the list. After we ate supper we headed to the bath tub. I always let her fill it up pretty high, and then she is allowed to do as much splashing around as she wants. You are always supposed to be able to get away with stuff at your Aunt Brooke and Unc's house that you can't do at home. :-) By the time I was able to pry her out of the tub, she looked like a prune.

We then headed to the kitchen to get the eggs ready. I let her help with every step of the process. She filled up the boiler with water and insisted on using the sprayer. Needless to say, The side of the fridge go a few good washings that night. LOL!! The we dropped the eggs into the boiler and put them on the stove. Then it came time to dye them. I think she would have dyed them all pink if I would have let her. She did very well for a two-and-a-half year old. I think she dropped five eggs (out of 24) and spilled one bowl of dye. In the end we all had a ton of fun, which is really all that matters. :-)

On Easter, the family met back up at Danica's to ooh and aww over the new baby, Danslen. Oh yeah, we also ate a delicious lunch and let Daniley hunt her Easter eggs. We all had so much fun.

After that, Danson and I went to my Meemaw's house and ate dessert with my side of the family. There are now two precious little babies, Brayden and Colton - and one on the way, mine. There is never a dull moment around there now.

BIG, BIG NEWS!!!

On Monday morning Danson, Mom and I went to the doctor to find out what the baby is. Danson and I just knew that it was a boy. We have only talked about a boy, only thought of boy names, only looked at boy nurseries, etc. Well, we should have been thinking girl because....... It's a Girl!!! Even though we both wanted a boy, we are still very excited that Bentley will be making her debut around September 21, 2011!!

More pictures will be added when I find my camera cord. :-)

Update

Okay, I know that I have not posted in a long time and I am very sorry. Here is an up date on what is going on around the Thornburg house. The thing that occupies most of our attention is this pregnancy. Shocking, I know! I am 18 weeks pregnant. Here is a picture of my belly I took last night:

HaHaHa!! Just joking! I'm not showing a pregnant belly, just a fat one so far!! We find out the sex of the baby next Monday (4/25) so we are really excited about that. Danson is so set on it being a boy. I'm afraid he might have to seek out counseling if they tell us it is a girl.

I have not been sick a single time! My sister-in-law says it is so unfair. LOL! The only complaint about pregnancy so far is I have headaches almost daily.

The only complaint Danson has is that I am very lazy and don't cook enough. :-0

So far I would say this pregnancy has been a breeze. I am very blessed. I think that since God shocked me with this pregnancy two months after being married, He thought, "The least I could do is make it easy on her." Or at least that's how I like to see it.

Other than the pregnancy we still have the same routine. We are getting very excited for our niece, Danslen Jane Connell, to make her arrival any day.

We are also counting down the days until our nephew, Brayden Thomas Hutton, celebrates his first birthday.

 I am a little sad that they grow up so fast, but I am very thankful that I am around to see them all the time and watch them grow up with my very own eyes instead of through pictures.

 Oh no, I'm crying... that is one thing that I do a lot now that I'm pregnant.

Not Goodbye, See you later...

Well, this weekend is going to be a pretty sad one for the Thornburg family that lives on Ola Drive. Danson, Danny, Debbie and I are going over to MS to take two very special horses to their new home. Giblet and Will have been around for a long time. Will is over 25 and Giblet is around 20... I think. Giblet has been Danson's one and only horse since he was about 14. However, Giblet is getting to the point that he really shouldn't be rode. So, Debbie's family is willing to adopt Will and Giblet and give them a very comfortable life over in MS. I know that they will be taken care of and they will be fine since they will have each other. Giblet and Will are BFFs. It is going to be hard to leave them there, but we can go back and see them whenever we want.



Love and Laundry

Last night I was reminded of why I fell in love with Danson so many years ago (it will be six years in September)! As you all know, Danson and I got the stomach bug several weeks ago. Since then, it seems like no matter how hard I try I just can't get caught up. The main chore that I have neglected has been laundry. I HATE laundry. It is a never ending process... and please don't remind me about how much more there is going to be when the baby gets here. I completely realize this. It had gotten so bad around our house that we didn't even have any clean towels in the closet! So last night I decided that I was going to start putting up the clean laundry. I hauled FIVE baskets full of laundry out of the laundry room to the living room. Danson was sitting on the couch watching tv. I had said earlier in the night that I HAD to start putting up some laundry and that I didn't know if I was ever going to get caught up on it. I got one basket of towels folded and put up and when I came back into the living room there was Danson folding and hanging up clothes. Now, this means a lot to me especially since I didn't even ask him to help me. As we stood there for over an hour putting up laundry, I couldn't help but think about how lucky I am to have a husband who is WILLING to help me out with this kind of stuff. Sometimes it is the smallest gesture that sends the loudest message. I love you Danson and I am so thankful for you.

Oh Baby

Meet Baby Thornburg! The Doctor said that every thing looks great! I think it favors Me more than Danson. LOL! ;-)

Ready or Not!

Well, Danson and I have some big news to announce. We are soon to be a family of three! First, let me say that this was not planned. We had planned on enjoying life as a family of two for a couple more years, but I guess God had other plans for us. I have realized over the past month that as much as I like to think I am in control, I’m not. I think this was His way of waking me up and bringing me back to complete reliance on Him and on faith. I will tell you the story of how all this happened. Let me start from the beginning.

My MIL(mother-in-law) was telling me about a teacher friend that she works with that got pregnant while on the pill. My first question was HOW?? She then told me that she was taking some antibiotics and that’s all they could think of that could have caused her medicine to be ineffective. I said, “What are you talking about?” She told me again and I ACTED like I just didn’t understand what she said at first. What she didn’t realize was that I was freaking out inside because I had just gotten off of antibiotics for walking pneumonia. I left as fast as I could and went home and pulled up Google. Every thing I pulled up had my antibiotic on the list as possibly being ineffective. I tried to calm my nerves because I was still days away from missing my period. I finally gave in and bought a home pregnancy test. I took it that night and it was positive. I busted into tears and went to Danson. He told me that he could hardly see that line and that I probably wasn’t pregnant. He told me just to wait and see if my period comes. Well, as much as I wanted too I just couldn’t. I left that night to go to my mom’s house and instead went to CVS and bought 2 more tests that were digital. I came home took this first one and it said…..PREGNANT. I didn’t tell him about that one. I woke up the next morning and took another one… pregnant again. I came home on my lunch break that same day and took the final one…pregnant. I called my sister in tears and said, “I think I’m pregnant.” She asked if I had taken a test and I told her I had taken three. She said, “Well, you’re probably pregnant then.” Thanks for the reassurance!! When Danson came home a few minutes later I told him that I had taken a total of four tests that were all positive and that I was pretty sure I was pregnant. I had to leave to go back to work right after that. I walked out the door and when I got to my car I realized that my keys were still in the house. When I walked through the door Danson was sitting on the couch with tears rolling down his cheeks. Needless to say, those were the first of many tears that we both cried.

We are both very excited about this now. It took some time to realize that big changes are coming soon whether we like it or not. I am due September 21, 2011. It’s a little sad/humorous that we will spend our first wedding anniversary with a baby!!  The good thing about this is that this baby will be growing up with some great cousins all close in age. He/She will only be six months younger than Danslen. He/She will also be 16 months younger than Brayden which is the age difference between Bethany and me. I know that this is God’s plan for us and once this baby gets here we will never think twice about our lives and the way things have turned out.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

                                Psalm 139:13-16

What a weekend!!

This past weekend was anything BUT uneventful. The weekend started out great. Saturday Mom, Bethany, Brayden and I went to P.F. Chang's for lunch. I love it! We had a lot of fun eating and socializing and entertaining Brayden. The funniest part of the whole meal was when the waiter brought out the tray and set it beside Brayden. When he turned around to get stuff off of it Brayden casually reached up and grabbed his butt. You should have seen how fast he whirled around. His cheeks turned three shades of red when he realized it was a nine month baby who had just made a pass at him. We were laughing so hard. Needless to say, he avoided Brayden at all cost after that. After lunch, we went by and visited with Meemaw and Pawpaw. They love when we come to visit... well, when we have Brayden with us. :-) Then on Saturday night Mom, Bethany, Brayden, Danson and I all hung out at our house and had "homemade pizza night" which is Danson's favorite type of family get together. During this fun night Brayden threw up his whole bottle. I'm talking squirting out his nose throw up.
Skip to Sunday morning around 1am. Danson gets out of bed to go to the bathroom. When he came back I asked what was going on. He told me he was sick at his stomach. UH OH!!! Now, for a little back ground info, about three weeks ago Danson's sister JoAynn was thinking about coming to spend the night with us because Kevin had the stomach virus and didn't want to catch it. Danson has never had the stomach virus. He didn't know WHAT the big deal was. I told him that when he gets the s.v.(which he will eventually) he was going to eat those words and then have no choice but to throw them up!! By Sunday morning at around 7am Danson was in one bathroom and I was in the other. This bug lasted for over 24 hours. At one point Danson looked at me and said, "I think I would rather be dead." It didn't take long for Mr. Macho man to break under the torture of the dreaded stomach virus. Hopefully next weekend will be much better.

Hank's New Bed

     Well if you have been reading my blog you probably already know that we have a 90 pound rhodesian ridgeback named Hank. Danson decided a couple of years ago that he HAD to have one of these dogs. He researched them daily. They are very hard to come by so it took him several months to find one. That didn't bother me because we also have a weenie dog named Heidi who is my baby. Heidi started out as Danson's parent's dog, but there is no doubt that she considers herself my dog now. When Danson started talking about this HUGE dog he wanted, my first reaction was... that dog is going to be so mean to Heidi and it might even hurt her. Wrong!! Heidi rules the roost. Hank will bow down to Heidi in a second. As a matter of fact, Heidi is the one who constantly gets in trouble for being mean to Hank. When I look back I can't believe that there was a time when Hank wasn't around. I love him so much and I am so glad that his Daddy decided to get him.
     All that being said, Danson and I encountered a problem when we got married. Up until this point Hank slept in the bed with Danson every single night. Danson had one side and Hank had the other. When we got married we realized that two humans and a 90 lb dog were not going to fit in a queen size bed. Unfortunately, Hank is the one who got kicked out. :-) He was moved to his bed right beside ours but that was not good enough for him. We would scold him to get into his bed and he would stay until we were fast asleep. Then I would find myself being woken up five times a night by a cold nose on my leg. I would look over, and Hank's body would be beside the bed and his head would be under the covers. I finally decided that he needed a nicer bed. I found this bed online and it had great reviews. Needless to say, Hank loves it! From the moment it was taken out of the box he has hardly even gotten out of it. We are all sleeping very well now!!

Caught red handed getting a kiss from Heidi

 

Third Time Must be a Charm

This past weekend I attempted, for the second time, to have a successful sleep over with Daniley. The first time she spent the night with me she was very sick and did not feel good at all. So, this weekend I tried it again and I failed again. When Danica dropped her off she told me she had a little bit of a cold but I wasn't worried because it didn't seem to be bothering her. As soon as her mom left, Daniley asked for a reese cup. Naturally, saying no to this child is very, very hard. Especially when she is asking for candy. Her voice goes up a couple of pitches and she gets a very angelic look on her face. Normally she will cock her head over to one side and say, "May I please have a reese cup Aunt Brookie?" So we went to the "candy drawer" in the kitchen to get a reese cup. I looked and looked and looked but there were no reese cups. Unc loves reese cups too, so they don't stay around for too long. I told Daniley that there were no reese cups and that Unc must have eaten them all. She turned around, marched into Unc's bedroom - where he was still sleeping, and said, "Unc! Did you eat all the reese cups?!?!" He said he did so we had to settle for some num a nums (M&M's). This was the topic of the night. At one point she made up a story about Unc eating all the reese cups. This is how it went. "Once upon a time, there was a Unc and he was very, very bad. He ate all the reese cups. The end."

We then headed off to Mom's to eat ham and black eyed peas. Once again, the ham was delicious!! We came home, got a bubble bath, and watched her new Tinkerbell movie. When the movie went off she said, "That was such a good movie I think we should watch some more." I told her that we couldn't because that was the end. Her reply, "Well, you can just rewind it." Me, "Nope, it's bed time." Now, up until this point we have had a GREAT time. We laughed, played hide and go seek, Acted like Santa Clause and put a bubble beard on our faces, and so much more. This is where the story takes a turn for the worst.

Do you remember in the beginning when I said Daniley had a little cold? Well, we went to bed about 9:15ish. She woke up almost every 45 minutes crying for her Mom. Now, if you know Daniley you know this is not like her. The child does not cry for no reason. I would ask her what was hurting and it would only make her tears fall faster. I would get her and hold her until she fell back asleep. At about 2:30am I called her Mommy. When Danica talked to her on the phone all she would do was cry. So, Danica and I decided she needed her mom and she needed to go home. She cried the whole time I was packing her bags and while I was putting her in the car. Once we got in the car she made several funny comments.
1. I am so glad I don't have to sleep anymore.
2. As we are going through town she says - Let's stop at the barbershop and see what LeLe's doing. I assured her that LeLe was at home asleep.
3. At one point she wanted to know what we were going to eat for breakfast.

Once we got to her house she was much better. I think the fact that she had a cold and couldn't breath kept waking her up. When she would wake up and ask for her Mom and when she wasn't there it was very upsetting to her. Everyone knows that when you're sick all you really want is your mom. So needless to say, we will try again for a successful spend the night -all the way through the night -party. We still had a TON of fun!! I sure do love the Sugar Booger!!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was great this year. It was relaxing and low key for the most part, which is just the way I like it. On Christmas Eve we went to Danica's for supper and celebrated it with the Sugar Booger. She got a ton of stuff but her favorite present was the trunk full of dress up clothes from Pawpaw and Debbie. Then on Christmas Day I went over to Mom and Dad's house for lunch. We ate a delicious ham that Mom made. It was better than any honey baked ham I have ever eaten. As a matter of fact, I could eat some right now! I loved watching Brayden open up his presents. After the second one, he was tired of pulling the paper so I helped him out. He is such a pleasant, happy baby. He jumped around in his johnny jumper while we ate and never complained. Christmas night I went over to Meemaw and Pawpaw's house. I always enjoy going over there because I get to see all my cousins from Mississippi. We had a lot of fun catching up. I also get to see my wedding video that my cousin Tiffany recorded for me. It was so neat getting to watch it. I hadn't realized how much I didn't remember until I watched it. This was another Christmas that Danson spent working. I only have to make it one more year and we will be able to spend Christmas together.... well, if he stays on the same shift.

Some other highlights from the Holidays were: Going to the outlet malls with Mom, Bethany, and Brayden. Taking Hank and Heidi to PetSmart to pick out some goodies. Going out to eat at Outback with Danson. And many more that I just can't remember right now.



Attempt 1 of taking a picture of us




Final attempt of trying to take a picture of us



I refuse to take any more pictures





Such a happy boy