Thanksgiving

As we come upon the week of Thanksgiving, I just want to share what I am thankful for...

* My Wonderful Husband... there's not another one like him

* My Sweet Baby Girl, Greenlee... she's blessed our house a thousand times over

* My Parents... they have always been there when I've needed them

* My In-Laws... I couldn't ask for better ones

* Mine & Justin's Sisters & Brother... They are the best (even when we've had our differences)

* Our Friends... again~ we have the best friends anyone could ask for

* My Relationship with God... I can always go to Him and talk things out and he Never judges

* Our Jobs... With the way things are now, I'm thankful that we BOTH have great jobs

* The Rest of Our Families... They are one in a million

So as you go to where ever you may go for Thankdgiving, remember what and who you are thankful for... Have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your families... Oh~ for those of you crazy enough to get out the day after Thanksgving and do a lil shopping, we're headed to Macon... maybe we can meet up :)!

Halloween 2010

WOW! Halloween came and went in the blink of an eye... Next thing you know Thanksgiving will fly by and then Christmas will be here... LORD! We had a very fun time celebrating Greenlee's 1st Halloween. I've even thought about her costume for next year... Here are a few pics from this past weekend...

Going to Heritage Park for Bethany Baptist's Fall Festival... We were all ghosts!

She racked up on the candy... She even got a baby Beanie Baby...

Here she is in her costume at our church Fall Festival & Trunks-of- Treats

Justin, Greenlee, Tim, & Lane

Happy Fall...

We went to our favorite "Fall" place this past weekend. While we were there, we got a few pics of Greenlee... going through the maze, with me & Justin, on pumpkins. We also picked out her 1st pumpkin for us to carve. Yes, I know she's still so little, but I can not miss any of her 1st's... Thank goodness I take the camera everywhere we go...

The entrance to Southern Belle Farms

McDonough, Georgia

Owned & Operated by The Carter Family

She wasn't too thrilled about being on the pumpkin

It's kind of like "Where's Waldo?"... Where's Greenlee... I absolutely LOVE this pic

Me & Greenlee trying to find our way out of the corn maze

Justin & Greenlee in the maze

The trip there just wore her out... Bless her bones!

We always enjoy going to Southern Belle... I even make it out there during strawberry & blackberry seasons and pick as much that will fit in my bucket... I can't wait to make this a family tradition. Justin and I have been going for the past 3 years and now we can add Greenlee to the tradition.

Pics of Greenlee...

Just a few pics taken when Greenlee was a week old... Taken by our WONDERFUL photographer~ Paige!

in the wheelbarrow~ I have one like this when I was little...

Our 1st Family picture

SWEET BABY!

A Georgia Girl already!!!

In her tutu i made

Greenlee Peyton Ballew

Well since our last posting, some things have changed... Our sweet and wonderful daughter was born into this crazy world.



On Tuesday, September 21st, I went to the doc and was scheduled to be induced the following morning at 7:30. So, since I couldn't have ANYTHING to eat after breakfast, me, Justin, my parents and his all went to the Waffle House bright and early that Wednesday morning. At 7:30, I checked into the hospital and was taken back to the Labor, Delivery, Recovery room where I would spend the remainder of the day.



At 8:30, my midwife came in, did what she needed to do and the process started. Contractions came and went... Not as bad as I was thinking they would be. If I wanted to have the epidural (because I am a wuss), I needed to have it in before the pain got too unbearable... So once I had dilated to 6 cm, I decided it was time. At 12:30, the epidural was placed~ not as painful either... Of course it could be because I was having contractions the while time and a malfunctioning BP cuff that kept on inflating and deflating every 5 seconds. The next thing I knew, my midwife came in and said that it was time to start puhing... So, at 3:30 we began pushing... Justin on my left and my Mama on my right... I pushed for 45 minutes... took a 45 minute break because some sweet little baby wasn't wanting to come down... pushed for another hour and 15 minutes or so and all of a sudden she was here... Greatest experience of my life...



I really didn't get to see her immediately after she was born. While I was pushing sweet baby Greenlee had pooped on herself and once she was in this world, she was taken away to be cleaned up and monitored. When I did finally get to see her, I saw the most beautiful baby girl ever!!!



Here he is...Miss Greenlee Peyton Ballew... Wednesday, September 22, 2010 born at 6:04 pm weighing 7lb 7 oz and 19 inches long

Nope~ No Greenlee, yet!

Greenlee's due date has come and gone... she's still hanging out in the comfort of my belly!!! But the good news is that by the end of next week, she WILL be here~ either from her own decision or with the help of Pitocin... But we don't care which way, just as long as she is healthy. We can not wait to meet our little angel.

Yesterday we went to the doc, again. Things were done, again! All I can say is WOW~ if that hurt as bad as it did, I can only imagine what giving birth is going to feel like. But I know that the pain will all go away once that precious little girl is placed in my arms. After the "exam", the doc gave us our options... There is still a good chance that she can come on her own, but if not, we go in Tuesday for a Non-Stress Test to make sure everything is OK since I'm overdue now. From there we schedule to be induced. And this is how we know that our little girl will be here next week.

One thing that I can't wait to do is have her pictures made. Remember my friend & photographer from an earlier post? Well, she is going to be at the hospital to take some pictures after she's born and within that first hour of her being born... the 1st "bath", getting weighed, those tests they do, our 1st hour with her. etc... These are going to be so great... some that most people never think about taking professionally. I can't wait to share these with y'all.

It's That Time of Year!!!

This is the time of year that most Georgians look forward to...It's Labor Day weekend (yeah- OK~ we get a few days off), it's opening day of Dove Season (not really impressed by that~ haven't been dove hunting in 7 years)... It's time for some Bulldog Football~ THIS is what I'm talking about. Hopefully with the coming of the season this year, it will bring cooler weather- Lord knows we need it. This has been the hottest summer I can remember in a LONG time; and I'm not just saying that because I'm 38 weeks pregnant!

As many of our family & friends know, we are HUGE Dawg (that's how real fans say it...) fans. When I met Justin, I was amazed at his "home office"... It is painted UGA red and was just about full of all kinds of Georgia stuff... Once we got married, I added all of my Georgia Stuff... Now it's full and there are some things that we have 2 or 3 or 4 of. We're always looking at new stuff to add to our collection... That's why I love the Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay, GA (1st weekend in May & Oct~ hopefully I'll make it this year) and the Geranium Festival in McDonough, GA (ususally 2nd or 3rd Sat in May). I usually come home with something to add to the room... Even our (new 9 foot) Christmas tree is decorated in Red & Black & UGA ornaments... It sits in an old wash tub that has been wrapped & sealed in UGA fabric instead of a boring old tree skirt...

Just to show how much we like the Dawgs, we named our black lab Munson... Our OB doc is just about as big a fan as we are- he has his office decorated from floor to ceiling with all kinds of UGA stuff... Greenlee already has MANY Bulldog outfits to wear, plus I'm in the process if making her UGA tutu to wear with her UGA onesie...I have a Georgia "G" cake pan... I could just go on & on about all this, but the purpose of this post is to say what great friends we have...

Usually during the football season, we have get togethers at each other's houses to "watch" the game... 2 seasons ago, we pretty much just went to 1 couple's house every weekend & everyone brought food... Last year we mixed it up at different houses, but we all still brought food... This year is kinda sad because for the 1st time in the past 3 1/2 years, none of us are getting together on opening day... Like I said earlier, it's opening day of Dove Season~ that's where most of our friends will be I'm sure, but we will be at the Ballew Family get together. The rest of the season, who knows where we will all be gathering...

I hope all of the DAWG fans enjoy their opening day festivities! We will miss all of our friends today as the Dawgs open their season against the other Bulldogs... Hopefully we will all be watching "in spirit" together... GO DAWGS!!!!