I am at the half way mark!! I feel like it has been going by so fast. I am having so much fun looking at little girl stuff now and trying to figure out what we want to do for her baby room. Our latest news is that we have decided on a name--Cambry Brooke! It is neat to get to call Cambry by her name instead of just referring to her as our baby.
Well, we had the big appointment today that we have been anxiously awaiting for a while now! I had a coke just before we went to make sure our little one was moving around. Well, she was sound asleep curled up in a little ball. So, our sonographer took all the measurements necessary & then started pushing around on my stomach to wake her up. She finally did a big stretch and wiggled around enough for us to see the "money" shot! Our sonographer spotted it right away and said "It's a GIRL!" We were both in COMPLETE shock b/c most of you know that I was CONVINCED we were having a little boy and Steve was leaning towards that too! I had been so convinced that all I would look at was boy stuff, boy bedding, etc! Well, we were pleasantly surprised to find out we're having a little girl! I asked her about 5 times if she was sure and she showed me multiple times to reassure me it was indeed a little girl! :)
We are both just ecstatic and in awe of the tiny miracle growing inside me! (we are still in shock too!) :) I think the sweetest part was watching her move around, rub her eyes, yawn & then start sucking her thumb. Steve and I were both thumb suckers and it looks like we have passed that trait down! Here are a few pictures of our baby girl. They even did a quick 4D sonogram for free and gave us a couple of those pictures too! Thank you Lord for this amazing blessing!
Top Left: Spinal view, she is facing down
Top Right: It's a girl view
Bottom Left: 4D sono--she is facing us, sleeping, laying on the placenta
Bottom Right: 4D sono--she is facing us, sucking her thumb & you can see her arm (also laying on placenta)
It has been 18 great weeks of pregnancy, literally. I feel very blessed that it has been a smooth pregnancy thus far. My belly is definitely growing! I think the most exciting thing that recently happened was that I started to feel the baby moving!
I was 17 weeks exactly and my kids had just left my classroom to go to the library, so I was still and it was quiet. I was sitting at my computer and I felt this little "tap, tap" on my lower right side as if the baby was saying "hi, I'm in here!" It kind of caught me off guard and made me wonder if that was really what I was feeling. It then happened a few minutes later in the exact same spot. I knew that must have been what it was! How exciting!! I began to feel it the next few days at night when I layed down to go to sleep and in the morning before I got out of bed. Now, I feel it regularly when ever I am still. It is the neatest feeling and sure has eased a lot of my worries!
We find out if its a boy/girl on Friday! We are anxiously awaiting and hoping our baby will cooperate that day! :) We would love to hear predictions on what you think we're having! Cast your vote on the side of our blog!
* going to the dog park
* dryer sheets
* digging in her bed
* stealing my slippers
* chasing squirrels
* hiding under our bed
* being chased
* peanut butter
* chewing her bone
* catching lizards
* going to Gi & Pops' house
* greeting us when we get home
And, my favorite is that she loves to snuggle! We love our puppy!
Steve and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our first baby! I am currently 12 weeks pregnant and due April 30! We consider it such a blessing that God would allow us to become parents and entrust us with such a precious gift. We are looking forward to the day we get to meet and hold our baby!
I have had what has seemed like a pretty easy 1st trimester and I am so thankful for that! I wasn't ever sick or nauseous, just had the tiredness going on. I always thought I was going to be so sick during my first trimester, as my mom was so sick with me and my sisters, so I was all geared up for that & then have been pleasantly surprised!
We have had 2 sonograms & we have heard the precious heartbeat 3 times! So exciting and miraculous! I always get so nervous before the doctor appts, but it so reassuring to either see or hear that strong heartbeat!
Thank you, Lord for this precious blessing!
Last week my long time friend from high school, Andrea, came in town for a bit from Houston to get away from the Ike situation. Her and her hubby just had their first baby 5 weeks ago and I got to meet him for the first time. Jack is just precious & loves to be held! We enjoyed catching up for the short time we had together at Tin Star! Come back & visit soon, Shephard family!
Today we get to watch our first Aggie game of the season on t.v.! Even though we aren't expecting much this season, it is always fun to cheer on our Aggies! This is the site I saw just minutes before the game started. 
Steve came around the corner with Lucy decked out in one of my Aggie t-shirts. I was laughing so hard! Looks like we need to invest in a dog sized shirt for her. She was trying hard to like her Aggie gear even though she couldn't walk in it. :) Gig'em Aggies!!
Last weekend Steve and I headed out to Baton Rouge for Matt & Sarah's wedding. Matt was Steve's best man in our wedding. They had a very small family/close friends wedding at her brother's home in Baton Rouge. We were a little worried how things would pan out with the hurricane just passing through that week, but they were able to still have the wedding. It was a very quaint and sweet wedding outside around the pool.
A few funny/interesting things during our weekend out there:
*We rode on the smallest plane I have ever been on. There was 1 row of seats on each side. YIKES! Only 7 people were on the flight with us. There was a real
nice older lady from Baton Rouge who tried to explain where some restaurants were since most of the stuff was closed still from the hurricane.
* When we got there, we had to rent a car. Steve had asked for a mid-sized car rather than a tiny geo metro or something. We were given an old school mercury grand marquis. I laughed so hard, I cried. It was sitting next to all these normal cars and we were going to be cruising around in that. I eventually convinced Steve that we should ask for a different car. No problem...there were plenty to choose from. I can't remember the name of what we ended up with, but it was normal. :)
* We couldn't find many food places open, so we literally ate fried chicken for all our meals. Popeyes and Raisin'Cane's. Tasty. :) We tried to go to the only Chili's open one night but when we got there they said they were closed due to the 8:00pm curfew. Nice.
* The poor city was pretty messed up due to the hurricane. We drove around LSU's campus and a lot of the roads were completey shut down due to debris and big trees uprooted. All the streets were completely lined with huge piles of brush/debris from the hurricane. I did think it was very interesting and eye opening to see the aftermath of a hurricane.
We were so glad we got to be there to celebrate with them. They headed to Vegas for their honeymoon. Congrats, Matt & Sarah! We are so happy for you two!
This was our first week back to school with kiddos! It was a long and exhausting week, but I think I am going to really enjoy my class this year. I have a full class with 22 kids that are sweet and chatty!! In the seven years I have taught, I think this will be my most challenging year from the academic standpoint, but I am up for it! The long weekend was welcomed and it has been a refreshing one. Here's to week #2 in 1st grade!
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Yesterday we hosted a lifegroup baby shower for our friends, Michelle & Andy. Usually we do a couples shower, but this time while the girls were showering Michelle with gifts for baby Ryan, the guys all went to the Rangers game! Our theme was "pickles & ice cream" and we enjoyed ice cream sundaes and some salty snacks! It was really cute! I don't have any pictures of the cute set up, but I've got a few of the gals! We are excited to meet Ryan in just a few weeks!
On Saturday we went to Lanette & Joe's wedding. Lanette is one of my teammates and we got to share her joy this year as she got engaged in February & quickly started planning her wedding for July! Lanette looked absolutely beautiful and the wedding was wonderful! The happy couple headed out for their honeymoon in Antigua. FUN!!
Steve and I just got back from a little summer getaway to Las Vegas! I had a parent of a child in my class this year offer us 2 free plane tickets on Southwest as a thank you, so we decided we would take him up on the offer! Very generous, I must say! We had both never been to Vegas before and we had a blast! We stayed at the Venetian, which was absolutely beautiful. We had fun exploring all the different hotels on the strip. They all seemed so close together but we learned very quickly on our first day there in the 109 degree heat, that they are a lot farther apart than you think! The monorail became our friend after that! :) I will let some of our pictures give a snapshot of some things we did!
I just got back from spending time with my precious college roomies! This year was our 2nd annual roommate reunion & we decided to stay local (for most). Sarah hosted us at her beautiful new home in Keller, Tx. We spent 3 days together eating, talking, shopping, getting manicures/pedicures, swimming, playing the Wii & reliving memories from our days in Aggieland! These girls are some of my very best friends & I am so thankful we make time to spend together each year even though we all live in different cities/states. Here are a few snapshots from our fun week together!
Let the summer fun begin!! School was officially out June 6, but I had trainings for the district the first two days we were supposed to be off for the summer, so it took a few days into the summer to get into the swing of things. Since then, my team has started "Tanning Thursdays" & we all get together at someone's neighborhood pool to hangout & work on our tan! FUN!
This past weekend, Steve and I headed out to lake Conroe to visit his parents. It's boating season so we had a blast with family out on the lake & in their neighborhood pool. Our nephew, Clayton, made the visit too, so it was fun getting to play with him! I only managed to get one picture that whole weekend, though!
My college roommates & I are getting together this coming week for our annual summer reunion & I can't wait!! More to come on that...
We have a new found discovery! Its the Plano dog park! Steve did a service project with his high school guys there about a month ago and he brought Lucy along to see how she would do. She LOVED it! Lucy is a super friendly dog with people and other dogs. She also has a lot of energy and thats where the dog park comes in handy! We have been a handful of times now in the evening over the past couple of weeks and she runs and plays with the other small dogs until she is wiped out. Then, we come home and she is so calm...it is so nice!! Its also fun when you run into some of the same dogs again & they remember each other...so cute! If you have a dog & you haven't checked out the dog park, we would highly recommend it!
On Friday night, Steve & I went over to our good friends, Rita & Kevin's house, to spend some time with them & their sweet babies! Rita delivered twins, Laney & Bryce, at the end of February & due to their 2 month early arrival, they needed to spend some time in the NICU. We had been watching Laney & Bryce grow through their pictures and we were anxiously awaiting the day when they both got to come home! Bryce came home first about 3 weeks ago and Laney joined them at home this past Thursday! YAY! They are absolutely precious and so tiny!!
Congrats to my over-achieving sisters, Summer & Kendall! :) They both just graduated with their masters! We headed down to College Station this past Saturday for Kendall's graduation. She got her masters in education. Then, on Thursday, we went out to DBU for Summer's graduation. She got her masters in christian counseling. Congrats, sisters! We're so proud of you!!
On a side note, I know my parents are glad we are all completely finished with school now. (and sitting through graduations!) We were all counting on Thursday at dinner how many years my parents have had kids in college & it has been a total of 12 years...not counting those years when a couple of us were there at the same time! WHEW! I guess thats the way it goes when you have 3 kiddos & they go on for their masters! We are so thankful that you allowed us to get a wonderful education, Mom & Dad!
Today we enjoyed our first polo match! Steve's cousin, Charlotte, helps put on the North Texas polo club/games. We went out there with Steve's grandmother & Aunt Sandy. We didn't really know what to expect, but it was very laid back atmosphere & the game was pretty easy to follow! We brought some lawn chairs & had a picnic on the lawn while enjoying some good polo. At half time, all the spectators get to go out on the polo field for champagne & the divot stomp, where you basically get free champagne & walk around & step on patches of grass that need to be flattened back into the ground. Pretty fun! It was a great atmosphere and we will definitely be going back & bringing some friends with us! If you're looking for something different, fun, & family friendly you should check it out! It is every Sunday at 5:00pm. Check it out at: www.northtexaspoloclub.com
This weekend we watched Kristi's dog, Rori. Lucy & Rori had never met but they were instant friends on Friday morning when Kristi brought her over. They are about the same size which made playing together lots of fun! We loved how they occupied themselves without us! :) 
This is a little video of my brother-in-law & nephew (Clay & Clayton) practicing Clayton's ABC's. So CUTE!
I have the smartest husband in the world!! :) As many of you know, Steve has been studying VERY diligently for the past 6 months for the highest certification in his field of work: the CCIE. It probably doesn't mean a lot to any of us non-network engineers, but in that field it is a highly coveted certification. When I mean studying diligently, he came home from work & literally studied every night of the week from 6-10pm (some nights longer) and then every Sunday after church until 10pm. Once the test got closer, he added Saturdays, as well. The week before the test, he took off of work & studied 12-16 hours a day! Whew! This past Sunday, he flew out to San Jose, California & took the 8 hour lab. He had already passed the written exam, but the lab is the kicker. Only 6% of people pass on the first attempt. Well...he took his lab yesterday & we got word this morning that he PASSED!! GOD is GOOD & my husband is a genius! :) We are giving the glory to the Lord that he was one of those 6% & I am so glad to have my husband back! We are ready to get back to some normalcy in our lives. Way to go, hubby!
I can’t believe it has already been 4 years since we got married! Last Thursday, March 13 was our anniversary! Steve planned a wonderful evening that included dinner at The Capitol Grille (which is at the bottom of the Crescent Hotel) and it was delicious! They had a table set up for us decorated with confetti and an anniversary card from them. The food, service, and atmosphere there was just perfect! Then, he booked a night at Hotel Palomar in uptown & it was amazing! We had both never heard of it before. It is newly remodeled & it was decorated with a contemporary décor & had a cozy, romantic atmosphere. The customer service there was nothing like we had ever experienced before…it was so nice! We enjoyed our much needed evening together celebrating the best four years of our life! We are so blessed!
Our first graders went on a field trip to the Dallas Aquarium on Thursday! We do a big oceans research unit at school & so this is always a fun field trip for us to end our oceans unit on. We had a blast until it was about time for us to head out and my principal called me on my cell & said to get everyone loaded and on the bus quickly because it was sleeting & snowing in the Plano/Frisco areas and the roads were getting bad. Quickly was tricky seeing as we have 6 classes of 1st graders & they were all scattered about in the aquarium with different chaperones. We managed to get everyone loaded within about 20 minutes in the rain & headed back. I think it was one of the most stressful times since I've been a teacher, knowing that you are accountable for all these sweet lives & are driving through ice on 75! The bus drivers were great & drove about 30-40 mph the whole way home. It took a long time to get home, but we all made it safe! What an adventure!
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