Christmas Traditions...

One of my very favorite Christmas traditions is watching White Christmas and Holiday Inn with my mother. She used to tell me the story of how she and my Aunt Janey would

sing "Sisters" in their kitchen when they were washing

dishes. This image always made me giggle. AND, I always

wanted to be this little ballerina from the final scene

in the movie

This year I decided to add a humorous tradition and force my family to watch the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episode, "The One With the Holiday Armadillo." It always makes me laugh, and my parents thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we'll have to do it every year from now on. :o)

Finals Frenzy...

Well, I've been gone for quite awhile because, since the day after Thanksgiving, I have been living in a little place called Exam Land. I have have yet to actually emerge fully from Exam Land, but my two hardest tests are over, with one more on Tuesday and a paper that I (shockingly) procrastinated on due Thursday. This leaves me approximately one day to prepare for the holiday madness that is my 2 week break from school. My in-laws come down on Friday, which I'm so excited about it. Is it weird that I love my in-laws? I've been blessed with great ones, which I know is pretty rare, so I won't rub that in too much. Then, on the 22nd, the in-laws fly home in the morning and my parents arrives in the afternoon. It's crazy, but I'm excited for all the family bonding and relaxing after all the solitary studying and stressing of the last few weeks.

Next week, I'm going to blog all my favorite holiday traditions, so get excited. I can't wait to finally get in the holiday spirit!

Natalee Claire

Every year at Thanksgiving I spend some time remembering a dear friend who died in 2003. Natalee Claire was a fabulous and free-spirited friend I made almost immediately after starting college. We lived on the same hall and spent our first semester in a small, tightly knit group of friends. Unfortunately (for her loved ones) Natalee went to be with Jesus over the Thanksgiving holiday our sophomore year. Her amazing, though short, life continues to encourage me and many others, as her love for the Lord and for others left a legacy large enough to last as if she had lived to be 100. This picture is representative of how Natalee lived, but it also makes me thinking of how she must be living now in heaven. So this year, as every year, I am thankful to have known this beautiful girl!

DeBloom Designs...

Remember the gorgeous Pamela who hosted the fun and fabulous pie-baking contest in Nashville two weekends ago? Well I forgot to mention that she is a phenomenally talented crafter. Seriously, check out her blog and online shop here: DeBloom Designs and pic out some fun goodies for yourself or to bless someone with at Christmas!

Jamie Brant...

Would you look at this gorgeous couple?

Back in college I interned at First Presbyterian Church, North Palm Beach. I was blessed to meet these fabulous girls, Jamie and Morgan (here they are with me and bestie, Emily). I got the pleasure of being their small group leader and, after the graduated high school and I graduated college, we remained friends. They were both in my wedding party as well. See Morgan (far left front) and Jamie (far right front) along with me and my other gorgeous girl friends.

It's hard to believe that these gorgeous girls are now college graduates. Morgan is in medical school at NYU (she's a smartie), and Jamie just got marriage and bought a house in Charlotte with her hubbie, Trae. They had an absolutely gorgeous wedding on the roof of a hotel in downtown Charlotte on October 30. I was so blessed that Jamie asked me to be a part of her special day and never minded that I was seven months pregnant and barely able to cram my belly into the dress. Thank god for the other bridesmaids who helped zip it up!

Annaleigh Jane's Domain...

Adam and I were blessed today by baby shower #2, thrown by my darling friends at Emory Law. I, being my usual slacker self, failed to take any pictures, but hopefully some will be coming my way soon. Either way, unpacking all the beautiful gifts we received into the nursery made me realize that it is high time I post some pictures of the progress we've made in there. It's certainly not done, but it's getting close. This big guy is the literally GIANT panda bear from Aunt Ellie and Uncle Dave saving Annaleigh's place in her crib. We were at Zoo Atlanta admiring the baby pandas chow down on some yummy green bamboo the day we found out I was pregnant, so the nursery is black, white, and green as a special way for us to remember when we found out our baby bear was coming! Adam's parents bought us this beautiful cherry crib as our first baby gift. It was the exact one I wanted and will convert to a toddler bed and then full bed as our little one grows up. Here I am at 30 weeks and counting!

Another project I'm tremendously proud of is our changing table/dresser, which I found for a whopping $65 on craiglist, though it retailed for over $500 at BabiesrUs just a year ago. Originally it was dingy and white. With some help from my darling husband, we we able to paint it this fabulous leafy green color, add new iron hardware, and line the drawers with black and white drawer liner. I just recently added the bows to the draw pulls with some ribbon left over from baby shower #1 (thanks Aunt Emily!). For $40 worth of materials, I think it looks pretty Anthrolicious, don't you? As you can see, the drawers and shelves are quickly filling with the gifts that all of our dear friends have been blessing us with. Our little girl is going to end up having more clothes and shoes than her momma if our friends have anything to do with it!

Since our nursery will also function as a guest room when we have out of town visitors, we've kept the double bed in it. My friend Sarah helped me create a more "grown-up" friendly side of the room using some accessories I'd spent the summer acquiring. The print on the shelves above the bed is one we purchased from a street vendor in Rome when we were in Italy for Emily and Nick's wedding last May. It's of the Trevi Fountain. where Adam wished for a baby girl. To the left of the bed will go the antique rocker my mother used with me and my brother, which she is lovingly refinishing for us in addition to making custom bedding for the crib. (She is amazing, I know). Until the rocker is done, Annaleigh's stuffed animals (gifts from too many special people to list) are marking the spot. The bookshelves to the right of the bed are leftover from college, but I sprayed them white and Sarah helped me arrange some special photos and bins to hold books and toys. I think they looks really sweet without screaming to our guests "a baby lives here"!

My goal was to create a space that would be soothing a tranquil for guests, but still fun for baby. I knew for sure that I didn't want a nursery that was anything you'd

traditionally think of for a baby girl- nothing pink, so baby animals parading across the walls. Adam lovingly painted the walls a very soft grey that has just a slight lavender undertone, and I've accented the black, white, and green with a few touches of plum (throw on the bed, a couple accessories, etc...) All in all, I'm really pleased and can't wait for our little girl to arrive and check it out!

Babies, bellies, mustaches and pies...

What could these four things possibly have in common? Leave it to the Monaghans to work that out! Adam and I were thrilled when our dear friends, Ryan and Pam, invited us up to their Nashville home to have a long awaited reunion with them, their baby girl, Wyndham, and two other college friends, Brendan and Lisamarie. A little backstory- all six of us graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic back in the day, and all six of us got engaged and married the same year. In fact, Ryan and Pam's anniversary is just one week before ours. Ryan, Pam, Brendan, and Lisa were all in mine and Adam's bridal party, circa June 2007.

~~~~~Newlyweds~~~~~~

Fast forward three years, and Ry and Pam are proud parents of this beautiful girl, and Lisa and I are both expecting. It was so much fun to compare baby bumps and get some great mommy advice from Pam. Ryan and Pam are amazing, laid-back parents a great example of how Adam and I hope to be with Annaleigh.

We're really looking forward to the spring when we can reconvene plus two extra additions, Annaleigh Jane, and Brendan and Lisa's little boy, Mason James, who is due just two and a half weeks after Annaleigh! Here Lisa and I are flaunting our baby bumps. Mason and Annaleigh already love each other.

Now what do pies and mustaches have to do with all of this? Well, it's a Monaghan tradition to host a pie baking contest in the fall. The women bake pies and the men judge. The men are given very special disguises (i.e. mustaches) so they can discreetly choose to vote as they please and not feel obligated to vote for their wife's pie. As you can see, our husbands all took the judging process very seriously.

Coming up next... the gorgeous Jamie McCluskey gets married and I am a prego bridesmaid for Halloween!