.preggers.pics.

We had a lot of fun this morning hanging with Ashley and her mom. Doesn't she look adorable?! Ashley, here is a sneak peek from today. More to come soon!!

.baby.carson.

.birthday.girls.

Happy, Happy Birthday to my two precious girls, Gracie and Harlee.  They are turning 3 years old today (21 in dog years!).  I can't even remember my life without these girls.  They mean so much to me.  I've included a few snaps of them "growing up" over the last 3 years.  The first few pics were taken by their breeder and sent to me.  If you just can't get enough of these gorgeous girls, click here for more!  =)

.little.rebel.

We had our first shoot of the New Year this morning with a future Ole Miss Rebel, Mr. Carson Noah. This little guy was so sweet for us. Landry and Keisha, thanks for sharing Carson with us this morning. Here are a few of our favs...

.exciting.news.

There has been some exciting news to share these last few weeks. Some of you may already know, but for those of you who do not...... My husband, Bo, and I are expecting our first child in June! YAY! I'm pregnant!!

It was a total surprise for us but we are getting more excited each day. It is a very bittersweet time in my life. I wish mama was here to share this experience with me, but I know with all my heart that she is watching this experience from above. I know God has given me this blessing in mama's honor. There's something extra special about this baby because of her. There's not a moment I do not think about mama when I think of this baby. I just wish she was here with me!

Sorry I am just now posting the news, but things have been a bit crazy. I am currently 4 months along and should find out boy or girl on Tuesday morning. I will definitely keep you all posted on how things are going. I am due June 19th, which I think is just a perfect time of year. I will get to spend nearly all summer with my angel. We've got a lot to do and this will be a big challenge for us as Bo is still in school, but I know things will work out. I've got the best family in the world supporting us and I couldn't make it through anything without them! I love ya'll!!

To keep up with all the details, I've started another blog specifically for Baby Luckey. You can view this at www.theluckeyfamily.blogspot.com.

Here is baby Luckey's first picture. It were taken at 8 weeks, 6 days. I am sure baby has grown a tremendous amount since then so I will hopefully post more pictures this week.

This is what I passed out to my family at Thanksgiving (see their reactions above). . . .

.a.tradition.begins.

We started a new tradition this Christmas. From now on, anytime we have a family function (Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, the annual family beach picture, etc.), we'll have a single red Gerber daisy present to symbolize mama's presence. She loved Gerber daisy's...especially in her favorite color, "red," so we thought this would be a neat way to always remember her. Her daisy sat proudly on our dinner table on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Lisa and I are always talking about ways we can have our children know her...our Gerber daisy idea will hopefully be one of the many ways we'll keep her memory alive for us AND our future babies.

Speaking of babies...I'm not saying anything, but check out a few of the pics below and see if you can figure out Lisa's news. Hint: Christmas will be very different for us next year. ;)

We took a picture just like this about 13 years ago - same spot. I need to try to find that old pic. It's crazy how much has changed since we took the original picture.

.breath.of.heaven.

This Christmas is our first without mama. One of my new fav Christmas songs is "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant. I am especially fond of this song because the lyrics (especially the chorus) seem to perfectly explain my feelings this Christmas (and in everyday life in general since mama has been gone).

Breath of heaven,

Hold me together,

Be forever near me,

Breath of heaven.

Breath of heaven,
Lighten my darkness,
Pour over me your holiness,
For you are holy."

I've always loved Christmas; however, I was always very aware that this time of year wasn't great for everyone - I just never thought that I would be one of those people who dreaded the holidays. This Christmas has really been dreaded, but we'll get through it and hopefully have a better year next year - although, easier said than done. I honestly feel my life will always have a shadow hanging over it. All happy times will be bittersweet and never fully happy and good because mama won't be here to share them with me. At every happy moment, I'll stop and think about her and how much I wish she could be here...then, I'll be sad. It's just a horrible feeling...to have this emptiness inside of me. Lisa said it best when she told me she feels like a piece of her is missing. We're no longer whole people. We are just going through the motions of everyday life - never being too happy or excited about anything.

Sorry to be gloom and doom during Christmas. It sure is good to get it all out in writing though. =)

They say, time heals all pain. I guess we'll see.