Change of Plan

Since the birth of our son, Brent and I have decided to start a website with access to my blog postings and pictures. We have found that this is an easier way for our family and friends to stay updated on us and Grant. Please feel free to continue following us at

http://brentandashleygartrell.shutterfly.com

You will be asked to register with shutterfly, but it is free. Request to view our page, and after being accepted, you will have access to my postings and pictures.

Thanks,

Ashley

A LOT of Change

We moved!!! Thanksgiving brought many reasons to be thankful this year. First, I am thankful for our families and friends! A special thank you to those of you who helped us move! One thing you quickly learn when you move is just how much junk you have! Apparently, we have A LOT! We moved from a 1100 sqft apartment to a 2500 sqft house. I was afraid that most of the house would look empty for a while. Not so much! Yes, there are rooms (such as the dining room) that doesn't have any furniture, but it is a great storage place for boxes at the moment. We still have to set up the nursery, but for the most part, each room is full!

Setting up the house is definitely a process! I am finding that while I love being pregnant, the physical restrictions are killing me! I am definitely a "move, get it organized, make it look pretty, and enjoy as quickly as possible" kind of girl. When you are pregnant and at the mercy of others helping you, that process sometimes slows down more than you would like. This is my life a the moment! There are still a ton of boxes that need to be unpacked or stacked in the garage to be put in the attic. Decorating hasn't even begun, except for the Christmas trees and the mantle! I had to decorate for Christmas!

The GREAT news is that we bought an entertainment center and couch. The entertainment center looks fabulous and the couch is to be delivered in January! I cannot wait! We do love our house! There is plenty of room for guests and we are adjusting to having to search a little longer in order to find one another!

In recent BABY news....we had a 4D sonogram on the 7th. As a Children's employee, I got the joy of having one of these done for free! It was awesome! We got to see Grant's face! He is precious! We thought it was quite hilarious that he kept sticking his tongue out at us and putting his fingers in his mouth! We aren't sure who he favors more, but we did find out that he has a head full of hair. THAT I know he got from me! Bless his heart! Let's pray that his hair is more cooperative than mine has ever been! If all else fails, we will get stock in Bed Head and give the little guy a baby mohawk!

Life is definitely full of change for us right now! But, we are taking it in stride! (OR at least trying too!) We can't wait for Christmas. We have several things planned with families and friends, and we are going to be finishing up our birthing and CPR/infant safety classes.

Sorry that there aren't any pictures, but stay tuned. I will try to have some posted soon!

Less than A MONTH!

So, we finally were told a closing date! Get this...Nov. 23rd! Yeah! Less than a month and we will be moving into our house! I can hardly wait! Obviously, moving into a new place is exciting, but there are several moments that I am looking forward to!

1. Getting the keys to the house and knowing that it is ours!

2. Being able to walk in to the house and knowing that it is ours!

3. Unpacking all of the many items that we received as wedding gifts over 6 years ago, but have yet to use due to never have having enough space in our previous places!

4. Spending the first night in our house in our nice spacious Master bedroom!

5. Decorating!

6. Having all the boxes unpacked, things put away/organized, and FINALLY being able to start on the nursery!

7. Getting new furniture!

8. AND...so much more!

I should also mention that I can't wait to decorate for Christmas in our new house either! For those of you who may not know, I typically decorate for Christmas at the end of October (so like...NOW!) I do this for several reasons: Brent doesn't care too much for Halloween, so it helps start up the Christmas spirit, AND we typically spend most of our Christmas time in Glen Rose, so decorating early allows for us to enjoy our home decorated a little longer! Not being able to decorate this weekend was a little strange for me, but knowing that I will get to decorate soon is encouraging!

We did got to the house of Saturday to check out this week's progress! We were thrilled to see that the wood flooring has been installed, the fireplace stone was replaced and done correctly, the master bathroom tile was redone and correct, the backsplash in the kitchen was installed, and we had ELECTRICITY! So much progress for a week's time!

Brent took pity on me when he noticed the difficulty that I have been having with posting pictures on my blog lately! I don't know if it is my Mac or the blog itself, but he was nice enough to post our most recent house pictures on flickr! If you would like to view them, go to:

www.flickr.com/photos/bg42

Less than a month is so exciting! We still have a ton to do before hand, but we are anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving for good food and to move! We have so much to be thankful for this year! I think that it is only appropriate that God is allowing us to move into our new home over Thanksgiving weekend. What a great reminder of the many blessings He is providing!

Almost Home Sweet Home!

The end is near! We went by the house on Friday night and were pleasantly surprised by the continued rapid progress! It is strange to think that in just a little over a month, we will be settling into our first home! We can't wait! We spoke with the landscaping company this week, and can't wait to see what our house looks like with a yard! But, for now, this is it fully bricked!

This is our tiled laundry room. We chose our tile months ago, and not only is this tile found in the laundry room, but also the half bath and kitchen! So, naturally, after several months passing by, I was fearful that it would be installed, and I wouldn't like the end result.

This is a partial view of the kitchen/ kitchen nook. The cabinetry pictured here is where the double ovens will be placed.

I am so excited about our large island. I chose to do black granite counter tops in the kitchen as well. I love the look of black granite! (Clearly!) The cabinetry is stained a walnut stain. Our back splash will be an off white tumble stone with a special design (designed by Brent and me) that will be placed over my stove top. The stove top will be to the left of the sink!

To the far left is where our refrigerator will be installed! We are currently looking at refrigerators! There is something about refrigerator shopping on a Saturday night that screams, "Welcome to adulthood!" The door picture just to the right of the refrigerator cabinet leads to the one car garage. Across from that door is the pantry closet!

This is the master bedroom. Not too much progress done in the actual bedroom, but the master bathroom is taking shape!

This is the master bathroom vanity! The mirror frame will be stained to match the cabinetry. And, the plug in the far left corner will be moved to just outside of the frame. The counter tops are a black granite with under mount sinks. Our fixtures are oil rubbed bronze (which appear more black!)

This is the garden tub with jets! Thanks, Mom for pointing that out! I had actually forgotten that I was going to have a jetted tub! Crazy, I know! The missing tile will be placed once all inspects have been passed!

This is our shower! Our closet is just to the left!

This is the front door! It will be stained a dark coffee brown, but for now it is a plain, solid, heavy, wood door! It is already so much prettier than the temporary door that stood previously!

Other progress made this week our fireplace was stoned! However, the stone was incorrect. So, they are going to be resurfacing the fireplace soon! We were a little frustrated to see that the tilers put the wrong size tile on the master bathroom floor, which means that has to be redone as well! A few set backs, but nothing too catastrophic!

As of now, the builder is estimating that we will be able to move in mid-November! We are really excited! Stressed, but excited! Our to do list before moving is long, but I know that we will get everything done! Brent and I have always made a good team!

Today in church, one of our ministers spoke on how it is so easy for us to specifically ask God for things and to casually say "Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings!" I couldn't seem to shake that statement throughout the rest of church and on the way home. So, I am going to specifically list all of the recent blessings that I am thankful for:

1. Brent- He is a wonderful man and a fantastic husband! I know that he is going to be an awesome father to our son, Grant. I cannot wait to see him in this new role.

2. Grant- Brent and I have always wanted children, but knew that it was God's plan for us to wait as we finished school, started our careers, and made a home! I don't think that it was an accident or coincidence that we turned up pregnant before we began trying. It was God's plan, and we are confident that it was much better than our plan! Plus, what is more precious and rewarding than a baby!

3. Our new house- We know that a new house brings new responsibilities, requires more money, and (to a degree) more stress. But, we are thankful that God is blessing us with this house, in this neighborhood, in this town, so that we may be able to provide Grant a nice and safe home!

4. My job- Every job is stressful, and I would be lying if I said that I loved everything about my job. But, for the most part, I do! And, with today's economy, I am lucky to have a job and even luckier to have one that I love!

5. Our Friends and Family- In the past couple of weeks, I have had family members and great friends offer to throw Brent and I not one, but two baby showers! WOW! I am speechless! I personally love throwing showers, but I know that it can be a big task! I appreciate each of these ladies for their willingness and desire to do this for Brent, Grant, and I! We cannot express how excited we are and how much we love them for doing this! Grant is already so blessed by the relationships that we have with friends and family! I know that he will love each of them as much as we do!

To end, I encourage each of you to take a minute and thank God specifically for the blessings in your life. If you are like me, you have a wealth of blessings and to list them all would take a very long time. So, list a few today, and thank him each day for a few more! God is Great! May we do all things in His name and for his glory!

Progress

This is me at 23 weeks standing in Grant's future nursery!

So much has happened in the past few weeks! So much is progressing in our lives! Grant is growing, and therefore, I am growing! Grant has been kicking and moving for the past month or so, but yesterday was the first time that Brent was able to feel him. His kicking isn't too hard (yet), but enough that Brent was able to feel it. I can already tell that these two boys are going to be good buddies! Brent is always rubbing my belly and talking to him! It is the sweetest thing!

The other big progress has been our house! We have a house standing and all walls are textured and trimmed and cabinetry is in place! It is beginning to look like a house! We are expecting for it to be finished at the end of October, and hopefully, we will move in mid November! Just enough time to move in, settle, have the holidays, and finish preparing for Grant!

We are having fun planning Grant's nursery and our home decor! We have made a few choices! We decided on the Chase Nursery bedding from Pottery Barn kids! We decided to not go with a theme, but simply blue, navy, and white in different patterns (stripes, polk-a-dots, etc)!

Enjoy the latest house pictures. Sorry they are in a random unorganized order, but technology is giving me fits!

This is our master bedroom!

This is the master bathroom vanity. To the left is the garden tub, shower, and closet. To the right is the toilet closet!

This is the dining room, which is to the left of the entry way!

This is a view of the living room when standing in the kitchen!

This is the kitchen nook, which provides a view of the back/side yard!

This is the front of the house! As you can see, bricking has begun!

Below is our kitchen! The cabinetry will be stained Walnut and will have black granite countertops! We are excited to have a kitchen large enough to store all of our dishes, appliances, etc!

What's in a name!

So, the fun part of knowing the gender of the baby is picking a name, right? Well, I think so! It's funny...Brent and I had several names picked for a girl with one narrowed down, but we were still lingering on the boy name! Wouldn't you know it?

However, for the past 2 plus years, I have been in love with one name particularly! I didn't want to jump the gun though and just go with it without considering any other names! So, we tossed around a few! None really seemed to fit though! Brent even had this brilliant idea of calling the baby a different name each day to test them out! So, we did! Again, none of the other options seemed to fit!

So, after much consideration...we are excited to announce that Grant Wesley Gartrell will be joining us in early 2010! We cannot wait! Oh..and I looked it up and Grant means "Great!", which means that Brent and I ultimately made a "great" decision!

I started feeling some lite little kicks last night while watching TV, and although, I attempted to let Brent feel, they are just to lite at this point. That hasn't stopped Brent from becoming really involved though. He takes good care of Grant's momma, and he talks the Grant daily! I can already tell that they are going to be great buddies!

I was having a conversation with Kelcie (my sister in law) this weekend. She said she remembers being pregnant with Eastin and wondering what he would look like! I am definitely at that point. I try to imagine him. I hope that he has many of his Daddy's features (his chin/jaw line, his eyes, his brain!) I joke with Brent though and tell him that I hope that Grant has his temperament and my conscience! Brent is much more laid back than me and doens't let things bother or worry him quite like I do. And, Brent was a little mischievous as a kid! Shocking, I know? It wasn't that he made a lot of bad choices, but Brent was sometimes smarter than adults gave him credit for!

But, in all honesty, when I pray at night, I don't waste time praying for physical features to be passed genetically along in a certain way. I pray that God bless Grant with the life that He has always planned for him, not the life I have planned. I know His plan is so much better than mine. I pray that He keeps Grant safe for the remainder of the pregnancy and throughout his life. I pray that God use Grant for His greater good. I pray that God be with Brent and I as we travel down the road of parenthood and always help us to make choices according to His decision. But, mostly, I thank him for this wonderful blessing! I have no worries because I know that God is with me, Brent, and this baby! I know that God is love! I know that God will take care of us no matter what path we travel down! God is my strength and my hope! God is good...no...GREAT!

It's a BOY!

We are so thrilled to announce that we are having a boy! This may come as no surprise to anyone who knows the Gartrell family and knows that they have only had boys for the past 3 (maybe 4) generations! We didn't care! We were thrilled to discover we were pregnant and knew that a boy or a girl would be great! We can't wait to meet our little guy and look forward to preparing for him in every way! I have started looking at all the many things that you need (and the fun stuff that you don't necessarily need) for a baby! It is fun, but a little overwhelming at the same time!

One major preparation that has started and is well on its way is our house! We were pleasantly surprised to come home from New York and see that we not only had a foundation, but our house is completely framed! It was so much fun to walk through our house for the first time! We cannot wait to be moved in!

Our to do list for the baby starts with picking a paint color for the nursery! Don't worry, I am on it! I think blue is a safe color, what do you want to bet? I will keep you posted on the house progress, along with the progress of the baby too!

***House pictures will come soon!***