Waaaay overdue post! :)

It's been way too long folks! Sorry about that...lol...
Here's what's new: I quit my full time job at New Balance back in September to stay home with Ms. Livy...it's been wonderful (though there are days I can't look at the same 4 walls for one more second :) )
OH and as soon as I quit...found out a week later that we were expecting our second baby!! CRAZY, I know...unexpected and scary but definitely a blessing. :) Due date should be around June 8th...
Livy is now 6 months old and ADORABLE...pics to come soon. Her cheeks are big and kissable and the rest of her is still pretty petite. She giggles and smiles and warms our hearts daily. She's our favorite little girl in the whole world! OH and she recently started baby food and is quite fond of her daddy's home-grown zucchini! Thanks to Grandma Karen for getting it to the perfect texture. :)
The weather is getting colder, which unfortunately often means work is getting slimmer for Steve...prayers are much appreciated. :) Soon though, he'll be remodeling a foreclosure as a side job...which will be a blessing.
We are REALLY looking forward to our first Christmas with Livy...can't wait till we can feed her Christmas "tookies" ;) Can't wait to put the tree up either. :)
Well guess that's all for now...
Can't wait to see you...Brian, Carrie, Corrie and Mary :)
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!---love--the Powells

Too Early for the Birds and Bees?

Went for a visit the other day to Cory and Melissa's! Carter was in his birthday suit running around and having fun! He naturally was wanting to see the "bebe"...so Melissa broke out the camera and here's what we got! :)

Seriously though, how cute would these pictures be if they actually wound up together? :)

What we've been up to....

Well, it's been a pretty busy last couple of weeks. I went back to work...
It's kind of like a rat race getting Livy to and from each day, but we're adjusting. She's with a wonderful sitter named Kim and is always smiling at her...things are going well.
Steve's been painting the interior of a church and trying to keep busy these days...with a slight lull in work.
Livy is growing like a weed. More pics to come later this week...
She's long and chunking up a little bit...especially in her cheeks, which we love and are perfectly suited for kisses! Livy's also been cooing a lot more and manages to let out half giggles every now and then, which is adorable. We cherish every second with that girl! Oh yeah, and something ELSE she does that's adorable (sorry, I'm a huge fan)...while she eats, she loves to cup her ear with her little hand and plays with the back of her hair. It's the sweetest thing... :)

Happy Baby Girl :)

This is our baby girl in a nutshell! Our good friend Ash took this picture while visiting TN a few weeks ago. Livy is happy, sweet and most of the time..content! She's been cooing and grasping things lately. We can't believe how fast time is going... :(

Loving Livy...

Well we are officially enthralled in parenthood! And we love it! Livy is so precious...has the sweetest spirit and often gets the hiccups--which ticks her and we understand. :) We are having some difficulty getting pics up, so please bear with us...promise to post some soon. A special thanks to everyone who cooked us meals and brought us goodies--we love you all! :)

More pics from the big day...

She's here!!!

Introducing our precious baby girl... Livy Bryn Powell

Mother's Day was especially special this year...we went into labor! Everything went off without a hitch and Livy made her debut at 10:14am on Monday, May 11th. From the first moment we saw her, we were in love. She had a gorgeous head of brown hair and the sweetest little cry. She weighed in at 7 lbs and 2 oz. Without a doubt, her birth was one of the most special days of our lives....so, here's to many more years to come with our precious Livy Bryn. :)

SURPRISE shower! :)

So I work with some awesome people! THIS we know...and I'm so thankful for...however, today they blew me away! Started off as a very ordinary morning filled with answering the phones and such and then I had a meeting with my boss about my impending maternity leave. Well anyways, the meeting was wrapping up and she asked me if I could make a pot of coffee for her in the large conference room, since she "didn't know how to work the thing". So...walked into the conference room and BOOM...there they were, about 20 ladies from the office and my mom. :) Took me a second to realize what was going on and then it was like "oooooh" lol...a little clueless these days. :) Anyways, it was decorated in a tea-party theme...with adorable cupcakes and cookies and delicious chicken salad sandwiches with pasta salad. mm! They even bought me some TED DREW'S...which as you well know by now, I have been LOVING these days! Everything was so well thought out and they pretty much covered the odds and ends of things we still needed to purchase --binks, burp clothes, a few more diapers, a photo album and a front carrier for the baby-daddy to use :) and they even threw in a GC to Babies r Us. What a blessing! Today was so much fun and I'm so thankful to have such caring people in my life!

Baby Powell

Today was our 33 week appt and ultrasound! Everything looked great.... Our baby girl weighed about 4 and 1/2 pounds and was deemed to be in the 55th percentile. She was also already in the right position for birth, which was a relief. The sweetest part: the tech mentioned that our baby had very full lips...so she gave us a profile shot and sure enough, she has her daddy's kissbale lips... :) Pics to come! :)

Other mentionables:
*We had a wonderful baby shower last month...filled with friends and family. Everything was beautiful, the food was delicious and we were so thankful to everyone for coming! Because of all the people who blessed us, we were left to buy very little. We just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we love you!

*Her room is almost ready!! We'll be posting pics of the completed project soon...thanks to my sister Kimmy for finding us a perfect rocker at a garage sale last weekend!

*We just completed our birthing class last Sunday...overall it was a great experience and it made us all the more excited to meet our baby girl. :)

*God has, as always, been reminding us of His faithfulness..it's not easy preparing for a baby...mentally, financially, etc... but we're growing in our faith. We're thankful for His grace.

That's all for now....soon we'll have more pictures for you! Love you!

Saturday was a busy day for us. We had a blast getting our pictures taken at Watson Trails Park (also happens to be where Paul--Steve's dad works). The weather was a tad bit overcast, but the rain held off! We were glad to finally have some pregnancy pics, as we are both horrible about taking pictures! Hopefully with our baby girl coming, we'll get much better...I'm sure we will, how could we resist?! :)

Just chuggin along... :)

Steve has recently discovered his green "Powell" thumb and has been vigorously working on creating a garden in our backyard! He recently planted some strawberries (mm!) and is planning to plant squash, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes in the coming weeks (pics to come).

Seems as though Steve's "honey-do" list is piling up as we prepare for our baby girl. We've decided that we need a goal for each week in order to get it all done before she arrives. This weekend; paint her room! We've selected a lovely shade of green and can't wait to see it up with the white crown molding! I sincerely appreciate all my hubby does and am continually amazed at the strength God gives him to carry the extra load (while I'm pretty much a bump on a log)! ;)

Well, I'm officially in week 3 of my class through Meramec...and selling party-lite! Let me know if you need candles, I can hook you up and please let me know if you'd like to host a show!! I can always use new homes to "party-lite" in! lol...

Hope everyone's doing well and as always, we love you!

Random Things...

Lots going on this month...so I thought I'd give a little update! In 2 weeks I'll be taking an online course through Meramec...needing this class to get into grad school by Fall 09'. I'm excited to get going on this! Also, beginning next week I'm going to start selling party-lite...also trying to get into tutoring a couple of hours a week. If all goes well with these two ventures, it could be the key to staying home with our baby girl. We have been praying for direction and provision and trust that either way, God has His hand on our lives and will guide our footsteps. Steve's work has been picking back up with Spring just around the corner...he also plans to have his official LLC by mid March, as we know it will open more doors for business.

Preparing for baby: last week we were blessed with a free bassinet and car seat. Once Steve put the bassinet together and I had feverishly cleaned everything with it/ on it...it began to feel VERY real! We're having a baby!! Holy cow! Every time I pass her room and look at that empty bassinet my heart flutters thinking about her sleeping in it. :)

Finally, we just want to say a heartfelt "thank you" to all of our family and friends who have been praying for this child for years...what a blessing to have this hope finally fulfilled in our lives. Every new experience has had that much more meaning with your love, support and excitement! Love you all! :) Happy Valentine's Day! :)

IT'S A GIRL!!! :)

We are OVER the moon excited!!! Got to see her today and couldn't believe she already weighed 1.1 pounds!!! :) We love you baby girl....you have our hearts! :)

Coolest thing EVER! :)

Just wanted to mention that feeling our lil baby kick is the coolest thing ever! I cannot WAIT to meet this baby and kiss and squeeze it!! :) that's all...

Life

Lots of things on my heart this morning...many things on my mind...but mainly, just reminding myself that His ways are higher than mine. Preparing for this HUGE blessing in our lives (baby Powell) ...it's really made us take a look at everything from a closer angle and evaluate: "Is this how we want to live; are we being who we want to be; what do we want our family's future to look like?". One thing's for sure, if you let it get to your head, it can completely overwhelm you with fear. I am determined to trust that God's timing was and is still perfect, His blessings are secure and that we are safe in His care. I'm thankful for all He's given us and all that the future holds...what a blessing to call a child our own and to know that the Lord himself knew that child before they were ever formed and gave it a purpose. Thank you Lord, you are the author and finisher of our faith! Help us to live lives that honor You and are worthy of Your call....Your ways are HIGHER than ours...

It's A.....??

Well, we had our ultrasound yesterday... and they couldn't see very much! However, the tech took a guess and said that in her opinion... though it's yet to be confirmed...we're expecting a baby girl! :) So...in 3 weeks we're heading back to the doc's in hopes of confirming our baby's sex. No matter who you turn out to be, lil baby, we already LOVE you!

Almost 20 weeks and counting!

We cannot believe that we are almost 20 weeks pregnant! Monday (1/5) we're finding out the sex of our little one...though many people, including us, are betting on a boy, we will be thrilled with the outcome either way! Stay tuned and welcome to our expanding family blog! :)