Not Yet Three French Hens....

We realized this would be our last Christmas as two turtledoves....

We had five days of Christmas this year, starting on the 23rd and ending on the 27th. We started out the festivities here in Birmingham and then headed up to Nashville for the last bit of our time off. We enjoyed our usual Christmas traditions and contemplated the new ones that we want to start next year with the little one.

Our holiday season was full of thankfulness as well as the dreaded unknown as we thought about the upcoming year. We have many big changes coming our way next year, some expected and some unexpected. As we try to keep in mind that God's plan is supreme, we can't help but wonder, "what exactly is His plan?" Fortunately this is not an original thought, and we are surrounded by people who have this same question, genuinely care for us, will guide us, hold our hands, and pray for us.


Our Christmas tree---I love Christmas lights and ornaments. This year we only had one tree, but I can see that changing next year (of course there are the small decorative trees, but I don't count them unless they are at least as tall as me).

This is our mantle. It is a conglomeration of all the Christmas decor that I forgot we had, and I think it turned out nicely. Yes, there are five stockings....one for me, one for Matt, one for the little one on the way (these are the three that match in the center), one for Jackson, and one for Maggie. I love stars (really year-round), and these stars plus Christmas lights really make me happy during the Season. This is Matt and I at the Knierim's house between church services. I believe this is our only picture this year....good thing it turned out!

Matt is rolling and cutting out the infamous Knierim-family-recipe Christmas cookies. These are cookies made from scratch every year at Christmas time. You might not be able to tell, but he is showing his Christmas spirit by wearing his Bass Masters tshirt---complete with two signatures.

For those of you who remembered that we were telling the name of our little one at Christmas time, here is a picture of the ornaments that we made to give to the expectant grandparents. Turns out that it's hard to take pictures of glass...who knew. One side says her name (Avery) and the other side has her monogram. Her full name will be Avery Noelle Knierim. Avery was one of three names that Matt and I agreed on (literally), and Avery was the only one of those three that we did not know someone with that name. Apparently it is also an old family name. Noelle is because my middle name was Nicole (they are similar but not the same), we found out she was going to be a girl at Christmas time, and I felt her kick for the first time while we were singing The First Noel at church. We are spelling it that way because I have known two ladies named Noelle in my life, and both of them spelled it that way, and we think it's pretty that way. So, that's her name and the reason!

Things That Go Bump in the Night

We realized that we have not taken any "baby bump" photos, so we took one to chronicle the journey of big to bigger. We will be half way (20 weeks) this week, so we figured this was as good of a time as any to start taking pictures.




We also have started being able to feel our little girl move around...mostly at night. She is most active after I have eaten and at night, which I am sure is the case with most babies.




On a different note, Matt decided it was his turn to take "baby" photos, so he came up with this creation. Just a warning: this might be found more disturbing than actual child-birth classes.

Shopping Spree

As mentioned before, Matt went shopping today with Christy Byars at a little boutique store because they were having their annual store sale (just because I had to work was no excuse to not be able to make it!). Below are pictures of his purchases...just precious.

This is the back of a red corduroy Christmas outfit. It is trimmed with red and green gingham and the bows are reversible red with green polka dot and green with red polka dot. The front is plain red corduroy....perfect for monogramming!

This is one of the Christmas outfits that Matt truly picked out. It is green gingham trimmed in green ric-rac and the top is reversible--on the inside it has appliqued white flowers with yellow centers.

This is a spring outfit. It is pink, orange, and yellow stripe with yellow gingham trim and a yellow gingham tie for the back.

These are the cutest little Christmas pajamas. They are red and green polka dot and so soft!

We are going to have a lot of fun dressing this little girl!

It's A.....

GIRL!!!


We found out today that our little one is going to be a girl...weighing in at 8oz (that's half of a pound) and a heart rate of 157. She was being a little stubborn and seemed to be quite comfortable the way she was laying. Her little face was looking at my spine, so it was very hard to get her facial shots, and I am not totally sure that is what we were looking at anyway. All of her bones are symmetrical, and her organs are developed and working properly. She is already head-down, but she still has a long time before she can make an appearance, so hopefully she will stay put for a while. Here is a picture of the profile of our little one. I will spare you all of the "anatomy" pictures.

Matt went shopping today while I was at work and purchased some cute little outfits for her. With the help of Christy Byars, he was able to make some wise and very well selected purchases. Most of the little outfits are 6 months or 6-9 months, and they look HUGE! It is so hard to imagine that our little 8-ouncer is going to fit into those clothes!

Thank you for your prayers, and we thank you in advance for your continued prayers. God is good!

Thanksgiving

This is a little late, but better late than never, right??


We spent Thanksgiving weekend up in Nashville with my family and Matt's family. It is very convenient now that the J's are up there. We were able to spend time with old friends and meet the newest member of the family, William. Matt got some good practice in with a 6-day old. He was a little grossed out by the diapers, but he made good strides in the area of comfort-while-holding-a-newborn. Below are some pictures that I took of Will while Matt was holding him. We are so proud to show off our niece and nephew---soon they will have a little cousin to play with!

***Small side note....on Monday December 8, if all parties cooperate, we should be finding out if we are having a boy or a girl!!! I've heard that this ultrasound is completely up to the little one as to whether we find out or not. On the same note, we will find out if this little one has inherited my and Matt's stubbornness :)