House Progress...

Last weekend was wonderful! I actually spent the entire Saturday at home helping Clay with the house...which he was mighty impressed with! What's that saying..."Happy wife, happy life", well what is the saying for husbands? Anyways, we accomplished alot and the house is really starting to take shape! We put in another window and a door that will go out onto the porch in the nursery. I don't have pictures of the finished product, but I do have a picture of what I came home to last Thursday night. Clay got home from work out of town on Thursday and just felt like diving right into working on the house. Since I work until 8 pm on most Thursdays, he had to act quickly to have everything cleaned up before I got home. He moved all of the furniture to the center of the room and ripped out all of the wood paneling still left in the nursery (our bedroom). Here is the result of that...

Since we finished the window and door this past weekend, all this room needs now is sheet rock! Yippee!

By the way, here is a picture of what I saw on the back porch when I pulled up to the house on Thursday night...Clay is so lucky he cleaned up in time =)

On Sunday, my very talented Uncle Rick came over to paint our front door. The color we chose is Sun dried tomato and I am sooo happy with the way it turned out!



Clay jokes around and says that all he needed to do to the house was add a red door and I would have been happy! He's not too far from the truth, I love red doors! 

"Heaven is for Real" {My thoughts about this book}

First of all, I am a believer and follower of Christ and know that someday I will see this glorious place. I downloaded this book to my Kindle yesterday in hopes that I would find time to read it soon. Since I was a little under the weather today, I decided that I would rest and start this book that I have heard so much about. I first heard about it on KLOVE, my favorite radio station. The host talked about the descriptive stories that the book told through the eyes of a little boy.

I could not put this book down until I finished it! I starting reading this morning and just now finished...I do have to say, I think this is the first time I have ever started and finished a book within a day's time. The book gave me a lot to think about and, at times, brought tears to my eyes. I think everyone would enjoy this book and the story it tells.

I was touched by one part of this book that told of Colton, the little boy, telling his mommy that he met his other sister in heaven. After questioning her son and herself, she realized she had never told her 4 year-old of her miscarriage due to this topic being inappropriate for a boy of his age. She questioned him and prodded for more information when the boy told her that the girl came to him in heaven and said that she was his sister. She told him that she had died in his mommy's tummy and that God had adopted her. Colton confirmed to his parents that she didn't have a name because they had not named her yet. His parents said this was true because when the miscarriage happened, it was too early to know the gender of the baby. The girl also told Colton that she couldn't wait for their parents to get to heaven!

I stopped several times when reading this particular chapter and thought about mine and Clay's personal story of losing a baby. After my miscarriage, I felt a tremendous pain of guilt and grief that was so hard to express to anyone at the time. God helped me make peace with this loss and we (Clay & I) felt comforted that one day we will meet our child in heaven. Since our latest pregnancy, I have pushed back all of these feelings and found joy in welcoming our baby in October. After reading this book, all of the emotions came back. I smiled when I read the part about God adopting the little girl. I'm sure about the fact that God has adopted our baby and I can't wait to see what he/she looks like someday.

My faith is strong and I have a relationship with the Lord. This story touched me in numerous ways and that's why I thought it was perfect for this blog.

Making Memories {Baby News and Easter}

Last week was one of the most exciting weeks for The Simmons' family. We found out we are having a BOY and could not be more excited!! We decided on Cooper for his first name, but are still looking for the perfect middle name.

I had the option to get an ultrasound where I work and definitely jumped on the opportunity to do so. Clay was off of work last Thursday, so I thought this would be perfect for him to come up for the ultrasound. The day didn't go as planned...the ultrasound department was very busy, Clay couldn't make it into town and the ultrasound tech only had a 30 minute gap to work me in. So, needless to say, I had the ultrasound done without Clay there. I was a little sad at first, but I cheered up pretty fast! Since Clay wasn't there, the tech said she would put the pictures in an envelope with a note that said "It's a Boy" or "It's a Girl" for Clay and I to open together later that night. Let me remind you that I thought this was an excellent idea and thought it would add a special and unique touch to this pregnancy. As soon as she went to put everything in the envelope...I broke down and I begged her to tell me! She asked what the names were and I told her "Emma" for a girl and "Cooper" for a boy. She said, "Well, then you have a Cooper"!! This is a picture of Cooper's profile (I'm leaving the picture out that shows his little turtle, you can take my word for it)

Cooper is about 5 in. long and appears to be maturing perfectly! My next appointment is May 17th for my 20 week checkup. 

Easter was a wonderful time that was spent with family and remembering His ressurection. Since I found out that we are having a "Cooper", I thought this was an awesome time to share our news with the family. Cooper may not be here yet, but he was definitely a part of this Easter. I dyed eggs that had his name on them and Gma Shelia gave him his first baby chick and baby duck. Here is a picture of the eggs that we dyed and of course, Coop's special egg =)



Baby Simmons Update...

Our 12 week appointment was this morning and it went great! I do have to say, I was pretty nervous going into the office because of my history with this particular appointment. Dr. Rister calmed my nerves a little and went straight into checking for the heartbeat. Before he applied the doppler to my tummy he said, "Now, if we don't hear a heartbeat right away don't PANIC. Sometimes it takes a little while to find it." As soon as he put the instrument on my tummy, all of us heard the most wonderful sound! We heard a strong heartbeat and what we think was the baby moving. This was the most awesome sound I think my ears have EVER heard and that sound came with such a weight that was lifted off my shoulders and heart.

Shelia and Miss Ava were with me today at the appointment, because Clay started his new job with Brazos Electric and hated to ask off so soon. Shelia and I both cried tears of joy after the appointment! It was so great to have her there supporting me.

Here is an amazing story and aswered prayer that Shelia shared with me as we sat in the room after hearing the heartbeat...

Shelia told me that the night before she prayed for us and the baby, like she does every night, but this time she asked for the heartbeat to be heard immediately. And it happened just that way! God is listening...

Our next appointment is on April 15th and we should have a new picture then.

More to come from the "not so" Newlyweds/soon-to-be parents...

Baby News...My Eggo is Preggo!

  Well, I can't contain the exciting news any longer...Clay and I are expecting Baby Simmons in October! We have had a roller coaster ride since last September with losing our first baby, but the Lord sure does have a way of making things GREAT!! We know that this is God's plan for us. We also understand that no matter what happens, it ALWAYS happens for a reason. We have made peace with the loss of our first baby and I truly believe we will meet it someday.
    With that being said, we cannot be more excited about this pregnancy! I am finally feeling great and over the whole nausea mess...hopefully it doesn't show its ugly face again! This pregnancy just feels different from my first and I'm hoping that's a good thing. My first appointment was amazing and we have the baby's first photo with mommy!

More to come from the "not so Newlyweds"...and soon to be parents!...

Update {Front Door}

The Simmons' family finally has a front door that doesn't have broken glass in it! This past weekend Clay knocked the entire north wall of the house down to fix and rebuild a new front door...



It seems like older houses don't have front doors that are centered with the front of the house so we wanted to change that. We picked out a door last weekend and it was installed on Saturday by Mike and Clay. Here's the door we picked...

And here is what I came home to on Friday night, sigh...

And here are some other pictures of the progress...



The finishing touches still need to be done, but the guys worked so hard this past weekend and did an amazing job in such a short amount of time! Since all of the sheetrock is up now, the next project is PAINTING!
More to come from the "not so Newlyweds"...



Updates...

Oh my, how the time flies! I just realized that I have not posted anything since our anniversary in December. There is a reason for this...life is crazy! We have been extremely busy with the house and have made more improvements that cannot necessarily be seen, but are definitely a must before we move on to the fun stuff like painting, floors, or even decorating (my favorite!). Clay and Mike finished all of the plumbing a while back, which they had to re-do a few weeks ago due to the weather...sad day for Clay! For now though, plumbing is behind us and it is great to have new and trustworthy pipes =)

The latest project has been completely re-doing the electrical of the house. Clay and Mike have put in many hours towards this project and I can't begin to thank them enough! During one of the electrical work days, Mike had a little...let's call it mishap. He was in the attic and got tangled up in wires and ended up falling through the ceiling. By falling through the ceiling, I mean one of his legs fell through the kitchen ceiling. When I came home from work, Mike warned me before I went into the house, but I lightly told him that nothing could surprise me now...I think I have been broke in by now to all of the "mishaps" that can happen when you are remodeling a house. This is what I found when I stepped inside...

Yes, this is parts of the ceiling and insulation on my kitchen floor, but it's ok...it's just something we laugh about now...

The hole in the ceiling...

and finally a close up of the floor.

I think back to that day and I was in panic mode. All I wanted to do was clean up, dust and put it all back in place. Now, I know that without days like this one, I wouldn't appreciate what we do have and be able to look back and laugh and love those times.

More to come from the "Not so newlyweds"...