From the Weekend

We had a busy, but great weekend last week. We were in Auburn for the Auburn / LSU game. Even though I wasn't pulling for either team, I love a good SEC football game. The fans from both sides were so excited & energized, just being in the stands was great. We also celebrated Judy's (Robbie's mom) birthday on Saturday (her actual birthday was Monday).

Robbie & I at the tailgate

Move over Chris Todd...

Robbie & I with Summer & Gary

Judy with the birthday cake Summer made

The birthday kids (Judy 9/22 & Rob 9/23)

On Sunday, we stopped in Montgomery so I could attend my sorority sister from college, Jessica's, baby shower. Mary Tyler is due in November & of course Jessica looks great!

Me with Jessica, Stephanie & Hayley

Stephanie & I (both 23 weeks)

Afterwards we stopped in Prattville to meet my new niece. My brother Billy, his wife Leigh Ann & big sister Maddox welcomed Marrell Sidney on September 8. Everyone is doing great & Marrell is absolutely precious!

Pictures from the hospital:

Nana (my mom) with Marrell

Maddox holding Marrell while Billy looks on

Big sister Maddox

Pictures from our visit:

Marrell & I

Marrell, Maddox & me

Robbie & I with Marrell

Happy 30th Birthday Robbie!

Happy 30th Birthday Robbie! Tuesday, September 23 is Robbie's 30th Birthday. 30 is going to be an exciting year, as we will celebrate the birth of our child. I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing husband. I'm so glad that we have gotten to spend the last 2 1/2 years of his life together. I cannot wait to see what the next 30 bring us.

Nightfall

Chattanooga has so many neat events throughout the year. It is one of the reasons we love Chattanooga so much. One of our favorites is Nightfall. It is a free concert series that is held every Friday night downtown during the summer & early fall. This was our last Nightfall to be able to go to this year. So much fun!

Kelly, me & Lara

Robbie & I

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

We hope that everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend. We were in Auburn over the weekend for the game. I have put this disclaimer out before, but I know that my family worries. I have not & will never become an Auburn fan! I must admit, I have grown fond of the town & community, our friends and the people from Auburn are great and I will even admit that they have a beautiful campus. But you will never catch me cheering for Auburn!

Jake's first of many college football games (kind of)

By the way - Saturday was our halfway point of the pregnancy. 20 Weeks to go!

Robbie & I with his parents

On Sunday, we went home through Birmingham and stopped by to see Brooke & Matt and their new little girl. Anna James was born on August 12th & is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations Brooke & Matt!

Anna James about to fall asleep

She is so precious

On Monday, our good friends from Chattanooga, Paulette & Travis and Kimberly & Zach hosted everyone over to watch the UT football game and celebrate upcoming babies! We are due in January and Margaret & Andy are due in December. The girls decorated onesies while the boys watched football. We had such a great time!

Emma, Kimberly, Paulette & Margaret

It's a boy!

We went to the doctor today. The baby looks healthy, everything is moving along great & we can finally stop calling the baby "it". We are very excited! A boy will be a new thing in a while on the Hollon side. I was the first girl born after several generations of all boys. Since me, it has been all girls. So, I am breaking the mold once again. This will be the first boy after 7 straight girls. We are also excited because we could not come up with a girl name, but have had a boy name all along. His name will be Jacob William Bush & we will call him Jake. Jake is after Robbie's grandfather Jake and William is after my dad & brother. All are men that we admire and look up to and we pray that our Jake will have those same qualities that make these men so amazing.

Robbie with Granddad Jake

Robbie with his father and Granddad Jake

Me with the 2 Williams in my life - my father & brother

My dad & I

Updates

For one of the first times all year, we've actually been in Chattanooga for 2 weekends in a row. We love nothing more than traveling & visiting friends & family, but must admit that it is nice to enjoy 2 weekends off the interstate. Last weekend we were able to complete some more projects around the house getting ready for the baby and hosted a cookout at our house where we got to use many of our much appreciated wedding gifts. This past weekend we enjoyed a visit from my parents as they were on their way to a wedding in NC and then we celebrated at Mark & Amanda's wedding Saturday night.

Alli, Kimberly, Lara & I at the wedding

Robbie & I

Amanda with the McCallie guys

Baby Update

Well, we haven't posted a baby update yet, because basically there has been nothing to update. Thankfully, I've haven't been sick any and I pretty much feel & look the same as when I wasn't pregnant. We are 1 week away from the halfway point in our pregnancy, and I have a feeling we are about to really start seeing changes (and I will actually feel pregnant). I've started gaining baby weight (unfortunately it's everywhere but my belly). I'm not sure if I've felt the baby move or not, but my doctor said any day now I should be able to tell movement for sure. We are most excited about finding out the sex of the baby. We find out Wednesday, August 27th! We are so excited to finally know how to decorate the nursery, decide on a name and know if our house will be filled with pink or blue. We will be sure to update the blog Wednesday!

Friendship over the last 11 years

Below is a slideshow of Amanda, Stephanie & I over the last 11 years. I tried to post it last night with the blog, but for some reason it would not display. Of course when I tried it today, it worked on the first try.

Great Weekend

Such a perfect weekend! We were in Orange Beach & Fairhope visiting my 2 best friends, Amanda & Stephanie. Amanda, Stephanie & I all met our freshman year (Fall 1997) as we were all in the same sorority pledge class. Over the last 11 years, our friendship has only gotten stronger. We have celebrated the good times together and held each others hands through the hard times. No matter what, these 2 girls have always stood beside me and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I was honored to have them both standing beside me at my wedding as my matrons of honor. Over the weekend was wonderful to reminisce and celebrate how far we have all come! We are all married to great guys. Amanda just had Gabe in March and Steph & I are both expecting our first children in January. And we were down to celebrate Amanda's oldest son, Sellers, 3rd birthday. It was a great weekend and a great reminder that no matter how many miles separate us, our friendship will always be strong and we will always be as closer than words could ever describe.

Amanda, Stephanie & I on the boat

Our skillful driver making sure we got close to the dolphins

So many dolphins in the water!

Stop for lunch

Amanda with Sellers at his birthday party

Amanda & Mike with the birthday boy

Stephanie, Amanda & I (Stephanie & I are both 17 weeks now)

Happy Birthday Maddox!

Over the weekend, was my niece Maddox's 4th Birthday Party. Robbie stayed behind to try to finish some of our 1,000 projects we are trying to finish before football season. Here are some pictures from the party. Happy Birthday Maddox!!

Maddox & me

The cake

Opening gifts

Maddox & Isabella racing

Maddox riding with Gran (my dad)

Maddox giving a wave while riding with her dad (my brother, Billy)

Bumper Boats