Adler love

Here is a cute pic from my shower. These girls are so dear to me:
Kath, KT, Lauren, Amanda, Kim, and D

mini Babymoon

The Huntons took their last flight as just a couple last weekend. The next time you see Kristine and Stephen on a plane...they will be parents! Last weekend, we went to Houston for a baby shower being thrown by a few of my Mom's close friends. Luckily, we both had Friday off, so we flew out Thursday night. We got in really late, but woke up the next morning ready for our 24 hour babymoon to Galveston. We packed up the car and took off, with a pit stop to meet Emma Kate Wells along the way.

How cute is this?
It was great to see Adam and Katie and their new house. So funny that we're just behind them in becoming parents, as I would have thought it would be longer...but now Emma will clearly have a crush on Adler, so hopefully we'll do a good job of making a gentleman out of him.

So, we drove down to Holiday Beach in Bolivar, TX where my parent's beach house is. It was great to be there on a Friday because no one was really around. So nice to be by ourselves and have a moment of relaxation before the coming whirlwind of parenthood. We hung out down at the beach for a while, took a great walk together that must have been 2 miles round trip. It was such a special time for me to just relax and talk with Kristine, because as we all know, sometimes life gets so crazy that you forget to just walk and talk with your spouse. I'll keep that last beach walk in memory for a long time.
That night we decided to head over to Stingarey, a local seafood restaurant on the bay side of Bolivar. The sunset was awesome and we really enjoyed our meal. Kristine had some stuffed fried shrimp that were awesome. Again, just so much fun to spend time with her...we talked about Adler coming and how crazy it is going to be. The cool part is that we seem to be really unified in our excitement for Adler. What will he look like? Who will take after? All the questions I'm sure every first time parent asks...The next day, we headed back to The Woodlands for Kristine's shower. I was scheduled to "rumble" @ tennis with PT (Patrick, my brother) as he has taken up the sport again and has improved in both the sport and his smack talking. So, he asked for it:
ACE!The shower was great. All of the friends that showed up were so incredibly generous to Kristine and I, and we ended up with a bunch of stuff that we really needed (like the trash can specifically made for POOPIE diapers). Someone told me that babies poop a lot? I don't know if I believe them... just kidding.
Somebody get that baby off the cake?! Oh, it is the cake...

Finally, we ended the weekend with Church and lunch Deyoe style. We stayed at Kristine's house on Saturday night after a great "b-day" dinner for me at my house. (rib, Potatoes, Asparagus, Orange/Curry Salad, GOOD Wine) "YUM" The next morning, we headed to our old church, saw where PT works for the church (the new building for Youth/etc is like the coolest arcade, gym, concert, coffee shop you've ever been to). After that we took in some brunch with the Deyoes and Shelley's boyfriend Jon...we could tell the new guy was pretty nervous, but who wouldn't be in that situation? I remember my first times hanging out with Kristine's parents...but this guy also has the sister's husband there to meet. Extra pressure. (but fun to watch).
Overall, it was a great weekend and great to see friends, but we won't even get into how bad the flight back was...Let's just say that Kristine was a real trooper and I was proud of her for sticking it out.

Adler's First Tennis shirt

It's closer than a month and a half now, and wow....so much has gone on since March, when we found out we were going to be parents. Bodies have grown (as evidenced by Kristine's most recent pic and my sympathy weight pic), a nursery has been completed, showers have been thrown, etc, etc...we're almost there and it's gonna be a wild ride.
Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive of us through friendships, gifts, love, advice, understanding and so on. You're all so great and give us so much hope.

Brain Drain Soup

I recently made the best soup ever. Even Stephen said so, who I think is a really great cook. He even emailed me at work the next day to tell me how great dinner was, which I thought was pretty big time.

This soup came about in the most unusual way. I was trying to be creative with some left over rotisserie chicken from Publix. I saw this episode on the Food Network on how to make a great soup using egg noddles and chicken, so I thought I would give it a try.

Since I already had the egg noodles, I stopped by Publix to pick up a couple things: chicken broth and a can of peas (this fit perfectly into our budget and I was really proud).

I got home, I remembered I had used the egg noodles in a pasta dish last week. (dang! don't you hate when you do that?) When unpacking the grocery bag, I realized I actually grabbed 2 cans of garlic chicken broth and the can of peas I picked up was actually the kind with onion and mushrooms - not what I had intended. This was a case of the baby brain drain.

Jamie and I often talk about this problem. It's when the baby drains your brain power and you can't remember what you were going to say or forget why you were walking into the guest bedroom. It seems to happen more frequently when prego - I think Adler is going to be really smart because I often feel really dumb - so hopefully that means he's getting all the brain cells right now. I'm pretty sure this is a medical fact, by the way.

Anyways, it was time to get creative in the kitchen - if all else fails, order pizza. So, I put on a pot of boiling garlic chicken broth, added torn pieces of the rotisserie chicken, added a strained can of the pea/onion/mushroom mixture and got things boiling. I realized I really needed a starch to go in the soup - noodles would have been perfect! All we had was a box of kous kous. I love kous kous (was introduced to it by our friends, the Vogeltanz) so I figured it couldn't hurt - so I poured about half the box in. It all looked pretty good. I decided to add cut up pieces of steamed carrots from the night before. This added great color. Stephen was in for quite a soup surprise!

I gave it a taste test - pretty good! Not as garlicy and I had anticipated. Dinner was ready! Stephen and I sat down in our usual spot - the couch - and dinner was served. Stephen looked at the soup with suspecting eyes. I pretended not to notice. He moved his spoon around, trying to be complementary and said, "Mmmmm....porridge!"

Okay, I know it was a bit thick (probably should have put in less kous kous), but I had to laugh. The last time I heard the word porridge was watching the movie "Oliver". What the heck is porridge anyways??

Well, to make this already long story short, he took a couple bites and was sold! I actually have plans to make my Brain Drain Soup this week (by request!). So, ladies, if you are looking for a cheap way to surprise and feed your husband, try my special soup. It was a hit in the Hunton house! Enjoy!

Isn't She Lovely??

This is our God-Daughter, Graycen Harper Fountain. She likes french fries, ice, panda bears and laughing at her Uncle Bocch. She is so much fun and will teach us how to be parents to Adler.

John and Misty are her awesome parents. We are so thankful they have already stepped through the "wall of fire" of parenthood so that we have someone to help lead us through (and watch Adler on date nights:))

Thanks Fountains for a fun night out last night!

I love this song, by Stevie Wonder. It reminds me of the Fountains and the incredible love they have for each other and their Gray:

Isnt she lovely
Isnt she wonderfull
Isnt she precious
Less than one minute old
I never thought through love we'd be
Making one as lovely as she
But isnt she lovely made from love

Isnt she pretty
Truly the angels best
Boy, I'm so happy
We have been heaven blessed
I cant believe what God has done
Through us He's given life to one
But isnt she lovely made from love

Isn't she lovely
Life and love are the same
Life is Aisha
The meaning of her name
Londie, it could have not been done
Without you who conceived the one
Thats so very lovely made from love

Shower The People You Love With Love

Last weekend was our first ever baby shower! What a way to feel loved by your friends! We had a really great turn-out and really appreciated everyone coming to our party. This is a group picture of the girls - I think missing a few that came later. Stephen's mom also came in town to join us and for some "back-to-school" shopping. We figured that since we are soon-to-be parents, this would be our last and any future "back to school" shopping will be for Adler. I guess you have to let go of somethings as you get older...

We received some really great gifts. Some of the big-ticket items were the car seat (now we can take him home!), high chair, and baby Einstein entertainment center. We also received some great necessity items like fitted crib sheets, ear thermometer (we were glad not to get the booty kind), blankets, hooded bath towels, stuffed animals, and some super cute outfits.


I couldn't help to stop and be thankful for so many great friends in this city. It is hard to believe we have lived here now for 3 years. I had it really great in Texas. I had the dream group of girl friends. These were my sisters - memories starting in 7th grade youth group, growing together through jr. high, high school, and college. I also had great friends I had met in college to add to my super special group. Any girl would be envious of the type of friends I had.

So, it was difficult when I left Texas. I left the greatest circle of friends ever. I remember spending our first year of marriage reading lots of girly books. Anything to feel connected to girls. It was strange living with a boy all of the sudden!

It was amazing to look around and see the love and support of so many people. I love the creative way God has brought each special friendship into our lives. We had friends from every different stage of our 3 years here. I love having old and new friends. The old are stable, consistent, reliable. The new are exciting and refreshing. I find so much joy in mixing these two together.



Thanks so much for your support of our family! We appreciate you all so much!

Is this really happening?

Wow, it's September and Adler is coming in November!!! I remember when Kristine and I found out we were pregnant on March 11th. It has flown by, and so much of me feels still like this is new and crazy. March 11th was hysterical though...Kristine had just had a birthday on the 9th and went out with the girls on Saturday for some much needed female bonding. They tasted some wines at a very cool spot in Vinnings "The Grape". I remember her getting back to the house and wanting to take a pregnancy test. I guess the girls had all been talking and got her worked up, cause there was no way that we were pregnant...but anyway, let's take the test just to confirm that you're still not pregnant and then we can sleep tonight....ERRRR...what's this faint light pink line I see???? UHH, take another one...OH my, it's darker pink....HMMM...(insert 10 minutes of Stephen heading over to Publix to buy the most expensive version of the pregnancy test - surely the cheap ones were wrong)...OH, both of these were practically hot pink lines? wow. we're pregnant.

So after the confusion slightly passed and the hugs halted we went to Doc Chey's to eat for three. This was the funniest part of the entire night, because we sat there is disbelief and could barely talk at the table because we were both completely at a loss of what to say. So many emotions all at once:

Are we ready?
Can we afford it?
I'm going to be a Dad!
I'm going to be a Dad?
Are we ready?
Can we afford it?

We then finished the night by randomly dropping by our friends' "The Claytons" house because 1) we needed someone praying for our sanity and 2) we probably were scared to go home and sit there mulling over the future...it was a great decision because they really put us at ease with their positivity. "Thanks Claytons!"

So now, it's 2 months away...Kristine and I are closer to being ready for Adler, but there are still things to take care of. Things I can't believe I have to do at 26 years old to prepare for a child. It's scary sometimes, because I know that there will be so many hard things about being a parent. BUT, there are so many things I'm excited about, so many things I can't believe I get to do at 27 years old (10/7 is the b-day, presents can be sent to 591 M. Gerizim :)

So, my prayer for The Huntons today is that God focuses our eyes on the positives, on the blessings he is preparing for us through the arrival of Adler and that the negatives will just be the things that we can't even see because of the blinding light and joy that God will provide with this gift.\

Labor of Love Weekend

How was your Labor Day weekend?

Stephen and I spent the weekend working on Adler's room. I have spent so much time thinking about where he will be sleeping, eating and pooing for the first months of his life. In collecting the things we loved for his space, we leaned less towards the "baby" themed rooms and more on the "trendy baby" side. The colors we picked just so happened to be Target's colors for the "back to school" season. So, basically his room looks more like a dorm room, but we love it.

My two big projects were the curtains and a piece of artwork I did using an old window frame. I have a notebook of drawings, measurements, prices, etc. All to create the perfect room for our Adler.

I have discovered this is how I make life decisions. I think, contemplate and talk to people about my different options. I weigh every decision - I will do as much research and information collecting it takes so that I feel that I am making the best choice. Finally, when I am ready to make a move - it all comes very easily and quickly to me because I have executed this a million times already in my head. Unfortunately, life doesn't always give you this much time to make decisions.

I have at least 3 more projects brewing in my head:
1) shelves - Stephen's dad is coming in town this weekend and I have charged them with building floating shelves for the walls.
2) chair covered - I have already bought the fabric (orange polka dot fabric on chair in pic), I am having someone come by to pick up the fabric and cushions Friday
3) SOMETHING above the crib.....this is where my brain is stuck
4) Okay, I said 3, but I'd really like to do some sort of organizing with the closet, but this can wait for a while



The first picture is of the curtains - you can see my Martha Stewart skills at their finest! My friend, Jamie, was a big help in the design. This was my first attempt to sew curtains. I thought it would be hard seeing as how most of my sewing projects stick to the pillow and button repairing levels. But I figured out that if you can sew a straight line - or even somewhat straight - you can sew a lot of stuff!



The second picture is of the window frame I decorated. I found this frame in the front of an old house they were renovating near my office. The people there gave this window to me for free. It sat in my garage for a long time while I thought about what I was going to do with it. Finally, I came up with the idea to create these little animals using felt. The total cost for making this was about $31. The felt and yarn was $6. A can of paint was $10. The letter "A" was a big splurge from Anthropologie for a cost of $15. It all turned out pretty decent!

So, it was our Labor of Love weekend. I had to stop and think - just what lengths does our Heavenly Father go to prepare life for us? I was reminded of Luke 11:13. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

I have become all consumed by ways I can create the best for Adler. Christ has this same desire for us - but even more so than we are even capable of understanding or giving. How much do we miss out on by just not asking?

Prego Thoughts

I'm 30 weeks pregnant today. Only 10 more weeks to go! This is a picture of me and my friend Jamie (6 weeks ahead of me) at her baby shower.

My pregnancy book tells me Adler is 3lbs. Crown to rump, he is a little over 10 3/4 inches and total length is 17 inches!
I can tell you, he is definitely getting crowded in there. It also tells me I should gain about 1 lb a week from here on out!

A baby born between the 38th and 42nd weeks of pregnancy is considered full term. Babies born prematurely usually weigh less than 5 1/2 lbs. So, it seems Adler will be packing on the lbs in the next couple weeks - it's like he's just baking in there for the last 2 1/2 months.

Stephen asked me the other day how I've liked being pregnant. I feel like it's one of those things that a year from now I'll say, "O, I loved being pregnant". Here are some of my thoughts on the matter. I will use the Tri Delta rush method of pro-con-pro.

So, first let me start by saying I am completely honored that God has blessed Stephen and me with the charge of parenthood. In so many ways, I feel inadequate and ill prepared, but it only makes my need for my Father greater and deepens my desire to know and cling to Him.

However, in gaining 25lbs, developing a protruding stomach, and entering the world of bottles (angled or non), nipples (flat or rounded), and wipes (to warm or not to warm) you have to find some humor. Here are my thoughts on things to complain about being pregnant and things to love...

My complaints:
1) The knocked up teenager stare - OK, so I know that pre-pregnancy I look pretty young for my age. In volunteering with Young Life, I often get mistaken for a student rather than the 26 year old I am. When paying to enter the high school games, the moms always charge me the student rate - I always have to awkwardly tell them I am an adult. Anyways, in the past month, my fingers and even wrists have gotten swollen. I can't wear any rings, bracelets, or even my favorite watch. This leads to the "knocked up teenager stare" by strangers. I can often follow people's eyes from my swollen belly to my naked finger. I love to watch how they choose to react. I know I could buy a cheap fake ring to avoid these looks, but a part of me thinks it's kind of funny and I kinda like to make these people wonder.

2) The fish bowl effect - I came up with that phrase all by myself because this is how I describe what it feels like to be pregnant. Overall, my body feels normal - if I'm distracted by something for a while, I'll forget I'm prego for a second. The fish bowl effect comes into play mostly in mobility - getting up and down from sitting - and especially getting out of bed. Bottom line, your sense of gravity/balance seems to be thrown off. Being prego, you can only sleep on your sides at night. I constantly feel like a pancake, having to flip over as one side gets achy. I can feel Adler's weight shifting as I shift - he'll often kick in complaint of my new sleeping position. Moving around, it just feels like a fish bowl.

3) The "I didn't wear that yesterday" method - If I did not wear an article of clothing to work the day before, it is fair play for creating the current day's wardrobe. I have adopted this method because I have discovered that buying pregnant clothes is futile. I went on a mini prego shopping spree about a month ago. I bought a skirt, a couple tops, and a pair of fantastic capri maternity pants. For the most part, none of these clothes fit anymore. I tried to hang on to the capri pants for as long as possible. Even though one of the two buttons was already broken, I would try to salvage the last button, clinging on for it's life, by unbuttoning my pants when driving/ or sitting at my desk for a long period of time. Finally, I had to face the reality it was time to retire the pants when even slouching them below my stomach, they would no longer reach across. At this point, I am caring less and less about my pregnancy wardrobe. However, I put this in the "complaints" section because I imagine this is more of a complaint coming from my coworkers. (not that shirt again!) I work for a non-profit group - we currently don't have a "dress code". But in the past 2 weeks, I have heard rumors of one being created. I can only imagine it is because of my 'flip-flop-just-wore-that-2-days-ago" wardrobe.

My joys: (tired of hearing my complaining yet?)
1) E-gad! My butt has shrunk!! - I realize this is not reality, but an illusion created as my stomach continues to get bigger and bigger, but I don't care. When getting dressed, less of my worry and attention is on my butt. I love it! It has definitely become overshadowed by the attention grabbing belly and for this, I am thankful. This may be the only time in my life I haven't wondered "does this make my butt look big?"

2) People are nicer to pregnant women - This has definitely been the case in my experience. A good place to be pregnant is in any kind of line. People want to let you ahead of them - bathroom lines, lines for food, grocery store - it's great! I always accept theses gestures because I know they won't last long. I only wish there was some kind of sticker you could put on your car so people would give you their parking spots. This is when I get mad. "I'm pregnant! Why can't you give me this prime spot??"

3) If all else fails, pull out the pregnancy card - I will admit that I have been pretty good about not abusing the pregnancy card at work. My boss has been very supportive and understanding especially in the beginning when I would be late to work due to a headache or upset stomach. But it's always nice to know, when you run out of excuses like "my dog ate my alarm clock", you can always blame the pregnancy. This is the case not only for work, but for any social gathering you are dreading. It is always great to blame for any kind of moodiness or harsh words you didn't mean. It is also the only time in your life you have an excuse for eating 2 pieces of cake instead of one (you are eating for two). I have lived the past 30 weeks more guilt free than probably any other time. Tired? Take a nap! Your pregnant!

Well, this has become quite the blog. I promise to not let future blogs get this long. Overall, being pregnant has been a great experience. I am so thankful for such great health for myself and Adler. The most miraculous thing has been being completely out of control of the development of Adler and having to trust Christ as He knits together each detail. I hope to continue this learning experience into Adler's life outside of the womb and try not to control his every life experience, but to trust Christ with the life he has for our son!

PT came to town

Well, Patrick rolled into town yesterday for his short visit, but we had a really good time. Kristine was able to get PT and I free tickets to the last Atlanta Falcons pre-season game, so we headed out that way and got a taste of the NFL in Hotlanta. Let's just say it's a bit different than walking into Reliant Stadium for a Texans game. Not only are we both spoiled with the club level in Houston, but the stadium is brand new. In Atlanta we parked a ways away and walked with the masses all the way to the Georgia Superdome, got to the game and found our seats, which were actually pretty good.

The funny part of the game was that not only the players seemed to be in pre-season mode, but the announcers, flag runners, firework crew, etc...everyone was off their game just a bit. When the Falcons scored their first touchdown on the first possession, the fireworks went off...BUT, keep in mind that we're in an extremely well lit dome? Fireworks just are not impressive when exploding into a bright room...but the perfect smoke circle from the explosion was cool. :)

Dinner was expensive..."Super Dog" was $5 and the "Big Beer" was $7.75...also, I think it should be illegal to call a hot dog "Super" if it does not come with Chili and Cheese on it. Just a thought.

We stayed for the first half and then decided that none of the good players would ever grace the field that night, so we headed out just as the two high school teams took the field for their half time scrimmage. On the first play, one team's running back broke a 60-yard run for a touchdown...not only was it probably the highlight of his life, but definitely the best play we saw that evening...it was awesome.

We headed home, all the while realizing why it's better to pay the $20 to park near the stadium...our $10 parking required us to walk through some "less attractive" areas of Down Down-town Atlanta, as well as talking to some friends along the way who politely asked for money to get some Micky D's. But we made it. :)

At home, Patrick and I stayed up to watch, what should have been a 3 set victory by Andre Agassi in the US Open, but instead turned into one of the great 5 setters I've ever seen. It ended at 1am and so did our day. Thanks PT for stoppin by!