My Hero...

..My Best Friend, My Handsome Husband, My Teammate, Your Dad!!

Today I am an estimated 38 weeks and 1 day into this precious pregnancy. So, with in the next 2 weeks we will be meeting this little bundle of joy that God has created. In recent days I have spent some time to reflect on memories from the past 9 months. The one constant memory...my husband caring for me each and every day w/o one complaint. On week 7 we made a trip to the emergency room. From that day on to week 23ish I was sick every day! Morning and Night throwing up and extreme nausea during the noon time. 3 times I passed out..scary!

Tommy was sure to be beside me each time I hung my head to be sick. He held back my hair, rubbed my back, wiped my face, and continued to flush. He would go to work late to be sure I was OK first. He did the dishes, laundry, cooking, shopping, let me pick the food...anything that would help me during those weeks. He just loved on me and took excellent care of me...like no other time in my life. When I hit week 24/25 the sickness started to disappear..YEAHHHH! For both of us.

But, still during the past few months Tommy always checks on me through out the day, cooks on the days I am tired, shops w/ me so I don't go alone, let me pick the meals for my cravings, bakes the best ever homemade chocolate cookies at 10:00pm because it sounds good to me right then, runs to the store late night for ice cream, sorbet, lemonade...you name it he takes care of it!! I do my very best to tell him THANK YOU every time he does something nice or helps me out. Your caring heart and hard work does not go unnoticed!

It is tough for me to ask for help, so this season has been quite the adjustment for me. But, I know that Tommy loves me and our baby and it is wise for me to not push myself.

Tommy, you are my hero! Thank you for taking care of me like no other. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, Thank you for telling me how beautiful I am every day, Thank you for taking our vows serious and to heart and for living them out every day. Thank you for making me laugh and for putting up w/ all the days I was super sick and could not do a dang thing, but get to the bathroom or lay in bed. Thank you for letting me keep Whataburger and Sonic in business w all my several times a week visits.

There are no words to tell you how much I love you, appreciate you, value our marriage and your friendship, respect you, and can't wait to start this new journey w/ you. You are my hero, my best friend, my handsome husband, my teammate, and about to become the best dad any child could pray for! I LOVE YOU THE MOST, YOUR SSW!!

Sweet Baby H, You have the best Dad in the world. One who already loves you unconditionally and would make many sacrifices for you. We look forward to meeting you. We have cherished this time that God has spent knitting you into a unique being. See you soon, precious one!
Love, Mom

What a Special Celebration!!

Table Decorations

On Sunday my precious friends, Alison, Rosemary, and Melinda hosted a beautiful baby shower for Baby H! Rosemary hosted at her beautiful home and I do mean beautiful!! The table was decorated w/ flowers, antique dolls, cute pink & blue petit fours...oh so perfect and charming! Since we do not know the sex of the baby each guest was to take either a pink or blue napkin and petit four based on your guess...boy or girl! Boy won by 1 vote!!!We shall see!

I voted boy, but truly I have no idea!!

It turned out to be a small # of guests, but it was perfect! We had plenty of time to visit and laugh! We sat down to open gifts and I looked around the circle of women and realized just how much each person has meant to me and impacted my life in such a unique way! I was able to take a few minutes to share with a few of these special ladies just how important they are to me and how God used them in my life. It was a special moment and not with out tears. 

I just did not take enough photos and I am so disappointed!

In attendance:

Hostess: Alison, Rosemary & Melinda.  I love these ladies. What a blessing they are to me!

No photo.. : ( My Great Aunt Bev,  Loving, devoted!

My Cousin Mitzi and her sweet twin daughters, Megan & Katherine..Love them ! Great mom!

My precious neighbor Joanie. So much fun! Creative, Loving! Chatting w/ Patty, Coco, & Joanie.

My friend Oksana.. we met at Fellowship Church a few years back. Heart for the Lord. Sweet!

My friend Cassandra, cerative, loving, so sweet, Great teacher

• No Photo : ( My Mother in law, Johnnie "Coco". How did I get so lucky!!!?
  
• Again, No photo Tommy's Grandma, "Gana". So sweet and Precious.
  
• No Photo, Teresa, my boss's wife. Teresa is VERY creative. I would love to have just an ounce of her talent. Cooking, painting, decorating, drawing, gardening, stylish! I mean she is one hip and cool lady! So much fun to be around! Beautiful inside and out!
  

My precious Patty (7th & 8th grade science teacher.. I lived w/ her for a short time twice). Servant's heart! Fun! Great Mom, friend and teacher!

My terrific friend Tara.. I love her, so funny! We met at Brookhaven College during a 8 day backpacking trip  at Big Bend. We laughed our heads off during this trip. It was either laugh or cry and boy oh boy, did we laugh even when we wanted to cry!! We need to spend more time together!!

Thank you ALL so much for being a special part of my life. For loving me "warts and all" as Tara likes to say : )  You have all loved me unconditionally and impacted my life in a way that only God could have planned. 

You have already started spoiling this sweet child of mine. Now we are awaiting the arrival so you can shower this baby with hugs, love and kisses!

Forever Grateful,

Rhonda Sue

Congratulations!!

Saturday Tommy's sweet friend Julia married her prince charming, Brian.

It was a beautiful wedding/reception. We are super excited for their new life together and wish them all the best! We are a little jealous...they are on a 16 day honeymoon in Africa (which is on the top of our travel wish list). We are looking forward to hearing all about this adventure and borrowing their itinerary in the future.

Here are a few fun photos from the wedding reception. Julia and Brian had a fun photo booth set up. What a great idea... you go home w/ photos and the bride/groom get copies too.  Check it out at boothBooth.com for your next event. I am sure the pics got funnier as the night went on!

Thanks for being my handsome date...it was a great date night! 

32 Week Photo & Dr. Visits

We had a visit 2 weeks ago w/ Dr. Ehmer (another Dr in the practice w/ Dr H). Dr. Ehmer was great. So sweet, so funny, and quoting Psalm 139 to Tommy and I as he described this miracle and blessing from God. Good visit. Baby H's heart rate was at 138-140.  Dr. E guessed baby boy, but said that probably means a girl! : ) 

Today we had a quick visit w/ Dr. H. My growth is right on target. Gained a few more pounds bringing me to about 26lbs total so far. Baby H's heart rate was 128. Dr. H said everything looks good and expects this to be a healthy delivery w/ no surprises. All indications that Baby H is growing and healthy!  Just what we like to hear. Next visit is in 2 weeks w/ Dr. Heckman.

Wow, it is hard to believe that we are 8 weeks from the due date. Tommy and I are full of excitement to meet this little one. 

Baby Shower

Last Sunday 4 of my most precious girlfriends, Christi, Liz, Kelley, and Leslie hosted a very special baby shower. Thank you LIZ for opening your beautiful home for another great party. The afternoon was full of so much laughter! The room was full of wonderful friends that span a lifetime, so many different seasons of my life were represented in different faces and friendships that I cherish. There are no words to express how much I enjoyed celebrating this new season of life w/ these girls. Baby H was showered w/ lots of great essentials: onsies, mittens, caps, toys, meds, baths time necessities, diapers, car seat base, books, infant seat, exersaucer, the BOB stroller!! Thank you for all the wonderful gifts!

Leslie's crafty work. I love the diaper cake. The flowers are still surviving at my house.

The Bunny cake. Christi was sneaky and had Tommy email her a photo of the baby's bedding so Angie ( My favorite cake lady) could create this cute cake and might I add, yummy!! Angie makes the BEST CAKES! I use her for EVERY occasion. This was a sweet surprise!



My Precious Hostesses : Leslie (I adore her. Fast Friends. Great Friend for Life) Kelley Ann (My Soul Sister), Christi (BFF), & Liz (I love hanging out w/ Liz. Very talented. Great Conversations, Huge Heart, Great Friend for life, Servants Heart)



My special helper, Chloe. She was so excited to help open gifts for her baby cousin. Thank you Chloe bug.

Monica.. the WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER.. of the fun game we played during the shower. We were not allowed to say "Baby". If you got caught saying baby then someone could steal your clothes pin. I was doing pretty good and had racked up 4 pins, then Sneaky Monica waited for her moment, caught me off guard, and got me to say baby. As you can see, I am not the only one she got... She was on her A game.

Family: Coco, Chloe, Joy

WMHS: Nikki, Christi, Robin & Melba (I have known Robin since elementary school & melba since Jr. High) Robin lived the next street over from me growing up and we were best friends.. we hung out every day growing up. Melba was one of my best friends from Jr high on and remains a very precious friend to me. I met Christi & Nikki our freshman year in high school. Christi and I became BFF after graduation and I could not ask for a more loving friend/sister.

Lacey (Kelley's sister and my friend), Kelley Ann (my soul sister), Monica (Melba's sister and my friend) and Melba. I love being w/ Monica & Melba because I always laugh so hard. Ya know the true from the gut laughs. These girls are special. Kelley, Monica and Melba are my go to moms for new parent advice. They rock!!!

Brenda Kay. My beautiful, talented friend. BK is the friend that keeps me on my toes. She is the one that God placed in my life to sharpen me just by watching her live her life. I am blessed that all my girlfriends sharpen me, but there is an extra something special that I get from BK.

Cayce.. Just about the cutest thing. Ms. Cayce is ever so sassy and stylish. So much fun to be around. We need to do some double dating w/ our husbands.

Heather. Huge heart. Sweet friend. Shout out to her mad skills @ Softball. Heather was invited to play in the softball world series this year. Can't wait to hear all about it. I miss flag football days!

Can you say Hello Beautiful! Jennifer is beautiful, her smile, the sparkle in her eyes can only be matched by the sparkle she adds to the party. Always laughing, always loving life, always fun to be around. And a BIG CONGRATULATIONS... JEN just got engaged! Jason is one Lucky guy, but I know he has to be special to win Jen's heart. We are so excited for JMO.

Brittney... another great friend! How did I get so lucky w/ all these beautiful friends... Inside and Out. Really!!! Britt has such a servants heart and is a joy to be around.

Most of us girls met at Fellowship Church. We had the best singles group!!! These girls made that season of life so much fun!!

Johnny. AKA: Bubba or HRH. LOVE Johnny!! As I have said before Bubba is a great friend and one that makes me laugh all the time. Smart & witty. I have known Johnny since my high school days. One of the family. And he is already spoiling baby H.

WHAT A FUN DAY!! I felt so loved and know that Baby H will have the best "aunts" and "uncle bubba" to love and pray for him/her. Thank Ya'll SOOOO much for celebrating w/ me and helping me get prepared for the baby.

A Winning Weekend

Friday night Tommy and I headed out for some Friday Night Lights! We went to see Tommy's Plano Wildcats beat Wylie's Pirates. Good Game! Fun night!

Saturday Tommy's College team University of Arizona got a Win. Woo Hooo...this makes everyone in our house happy!!

Sunday morning before the sun came up, Tommy headed out for his Triathlon. I am so proud of him! He got another Olympic distance triathlon under his best and did GREAT!!! 1 mile swim, 25  mile bike and 10k run. I love going out and cheering him on. I wonder if he knows that I get emotional at every race and every transition of the race. I do! I tear up as I wait to see him approach the transition area... i am there praying for the wind at his back, strength in his legs, good rhythm and breathing, safe conditions. I love to yell his name as I see him and cheer him on during the transition & to the finish line. I am proud of you, Tommy!!  You had a great race!!!

Tommy at the start of the run after the mile swim and 25 mile bike ride!! Looking good!

Tommy and Rob after the race. Way to go guys!!

Tommy, Rhonda & Baby H. Just think, next year there will be a baby in the stroller cheering on Dad at the finish line : ) 

Right after the race we came home to change clothes/shower and head off to the cowboy game. This was a special treat because Coco & Hatty invited us to sit in a box w/ their dear friends Dale & Sherry.  I loved the time at the game visiting w/ Coco & Sherry, watching Tommy and his Dad talk football, cheering on the cowboys to another victory, and meeting a few new people. Thank you Dale & Sherry for including us...we had a great time!! Can I just say they are the nicest people... kind hearts, generous spirits, and fun personalities. Their daughter is currently working on her music career...She is beautiful and very talented (we got to hear 2 of her demo songs..wow). We will keep Channing in our prayers as God has his hand on her career and success in the music industry.

What a great, winning weekend! I enjoyed every moment of it!! All special memories!!

Nursery Sneak Peak

A LITTLE SNEAK PEAK... because the photos are not that great!!

Since we still have Operation Sell Townhouse in progress, we have not set up the nursery. But, I have some of the items waiting in the wings to be moved in and set up. I am still on a mission for a dresser/changing table and all wall decor will come after Baby H. Here is a sneak peak.. I am excited to see the final results and start setting up the room in a few weeks.

The chair after reupholstery.  I am already so excited about the precious bonding and rocking that will take place in this chair. 

Swatch of the Baby bedding: 

Silk Bumper w/ Taupe/Cream Bunny (top of bumper will have two rows of gingham ruffles)

Taupe& Cream Gingham Ruffled skirt

Close up of bunny on the bumper. Terrible photo, but trust me  the bunny is really sweet and classic. 

Baby Bed..I LOVE IT!!! Joy (my sister in law) had this bed made for her nursery. I think it is beautiful and I am so gratefeul that we get to use it now. 

The walls in the guest room (soon to be nursery) are already a earth tone taupe, so no need to paint. 

There is the exclusive sneak peak. In a few weeks if the town house shows no signs w/ the possibility of having new owners then I'll begin to prepare the room for baby H. Of course we are continuing to pray for God's will and direction. We love the townhouse and have plenty of room for baby. Where ever God places us I am excited to be with my family.