13 weeks! 12-11-20 to 12-17-20

12-11: Today I finished all the student evaluations, turned them in, and picked up my Daisy Award, which made me feel extra special! It is such an honor to receive this award and I am so proud! 

12-13: Worked at MC today at Lake Austin. It was chaotic as normal but I'm so thankful for have two jobs in my career and it's a position that keeps me challenged and thinking! I'm always so thankful to get home after those long shifts but there is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment and knowing you fulfilled your task for the day! 

12-15 to 12-16: It's our 6th wedding anniversary!!! While this month/season have been unusually busy for us, we still always take the time to recognize our marriage and another year spent together. Brandon took us to dinner at District Kitchen in Austin. While it wasn't our absolute favorite, it was good and I really enjoyed my entre porkchop dish! We enjoyed reminiscing our favorite and least favorite parts of the last year. Of course our big joy is baby Chandler on the way and how God worked to overcome infertility in our lives. On the evening of the 16th, we headed to Dallas to stay at mom's in preparation of our upcoming Christmas trip to Vista Estrella on Lake Eufaula! Since we can't go to Colorado this year due to COVID, we still wanted to spend the holiday together and thought doing so a week early would be the best decision. Plus, it gave us the perfect opportunity to tell the family we are having a baby!!!! We had it all planned out perfectly and couldn't wait to share the news! Most of us had also been recently COVID tested too, myself included, and except for Marilyn, we all tested negative. That was okay though because we came up with a last minute plan to tell her the big news that kept us all safe! 

2-17: Big days ahead!!!! We got up early, got ready, and started our big day! We told Jerry first and he was so excited! Gave him his little gift and he was so happy to learn he was going to be a grandpa! He also agreed to mail out the beautiful pregnancy announcements we had made, which I absolutely love and so enjoyed making! We then headed to Sweet Art Bakery to pick up the sweetest little gender reveal cake for the family to cut in Eufaula, then picked up Cookies specially ordered by Bethany to help celebrate the big announcement, and we couldn't leave town without stopping by the farm to tell dad! It took him a few minutes but after figuring out his Christmas present of toy John Deer tractors was clearly not for him, he got it!!! The big tears in his eyes gave away his joy!! He guessed baby is a boy and said "I'll get my boy now!" It was such a sweet moment and one that I will remember forever! Funny thing is, mom was on her way to the farm to get Bethany so they could leave town but Bethany did such a good job of playing traffic control that we never crossed paths! She would have known something was up! 

On to Howe!! I had big canvas' made with our announcement photos on them and wrapped one for Marilyn's Christmas present! We got to her house, Brandon sat the gift and a box of some of the cookies on the porch, and then we called her to come outside to get her present. We facetimed her so we could hear each other and as hard as it was not to hug and get close, we just couldn't because of COVID. She opened her gift and it also took her some time before she saw the sonogram in the photo but she finally saw it!! Just as we suspected, she lost it! It was so sweet!!! She also got to open the cookies and found out it was a boy!! It was so fun surprising her and I'm so happy we got to share the news since she couldn't join us in person in Eufaula. 

On to Eufaula! We had a very pleasant drive, stopped at a little Italian restaurant for lunch, and then met the girls at Wal Mart for grocery shopping. Finally, we made it to Vista Estrella! It was so great to be back! The last time we were here, it was in mourning to say goodbye to grandma Reta, and this time it would be to celebrate new life of baby Davis! The special part is this is the lake that mom grew up on and the cabin is just a few miles away from her childhood home! The same place she would play everyday as a child would soon be the same place she would find out she was going to be a grandmother! All during our favorite Christmas time of year too! God sure has amazing ways of timing everything just perfectly! 

Bethany helped us get in the cake and cookies in hidden in the second fridge and then we all sat down to relax. We later took a stroll down to the dock, reminisced about being there last year, and got settled for our cozy weekend together. It's not often that I love a vacation home enough to return to but this home really does, for some reason, hold a very special place in my heart and I truly love visiting it! I'm sure it has something to do with the special memories and togetherness we experienced last time we we visited, and even more so now, but I really do love this home and what it means to our family. 

Once evening fell, it was time to play cards!!! We played a few rounds before mixing in the special announcement photo cards I had made and we all sat on pins and needles waiting on mom to figure it out! It took forever!!! Ha! We played cards for another hour before the big moment came and then she realized what she was looking at! It was one of the most sweetest and endearing moments of our lives!! It's hard to put into words how the moment played out but our video captures it beautifully! As the weekend went on, Brook arrived and we played Rummy again with the cards until she figured it out! Her reaction was as equally as heartwarming and special to us! Bethany played videographer the whole time, Brandon helped distract them at times, and I had the cards ready to add to the deck when it was time. Later on, Lori and Adam arrived and again, played cards and had the cutest reactions to our big news. It truly was the perfect Christmas and way to celebrate The Lord in this special season. It was also such a joy and gift to end a scary year of a pandemic and infertility pain with such beautiful news. Baby Chandler has already changed all our lives for the better! What a gift to be his mommy!