New Beginnings

Well, I am officially blogging! Matt and I have been saying we are going to start a blog for a while. Now it is official! I figure since Ella is coming anyday, we should get this thing started so that everyone can keep up with all that is going on with the George's.

Let me begin with all that 2009 has brought us so far (man has it been a crazy, challenging, exciting year full of change!) This will be a long post so get ready. Most will not be this long, I promise. Just a quick run down of our life this year....

- The first week of the 2009 we found out we were going to have a baby! This was such exciting news! We shared the news with our parents and our siblings on January 16th when everyone was in town at our house celebrating Matt's mom's birthday! Here are some of Ella's first baby pictures. (Maryn, our 3 year old niece, says she looks scary here!)

- Then, in February, we got the news that Matt was part of the large downsizing at Wal-Mart home office. He was one of almost 1000 workers laid off. This was a huge reality shock for us (Especially having just found out we were pregnant!). I can honestly say that this was one of the most challenging times in mine and Matt's life so far. He was completely blindsighted. Matt spent the next 2 months looking for a job as well as finishing up last minute house projects because we just knew that we would be putting the house on the market as there were no jobs available in Northwest Arkansas. We had a hard time accepting that we were going to have to move, but we knew that this had to be a God thing and we had to let go of our "plans" for our life and trust His plan for our life. We found no jobs in civil engineering or construction estimation in Arkansas for the longest time. We were preparing ourselves to have to move far away from family with our new little baby on the way. Fortunately, Matt got a call from a Steel Company in Little Rock wanting to meet with him about a job! To our knowledge there wasn't even a job posted here. What?! It had to be God. After all we had gone through the last couple of months, what are the odds that we would end up back in Little Rock?! After a day-long interview process and taking a few tests, Matt got offered the job! So, I was going back home. We put the house on the market and prayed a lot!! Matt moved on to Little Rock and I finished the semester teaching and showed our house almost everyday! We were so fortunate to have bought in such a great location in Springdale. Our home in Springdale, which we still love so much, sold in less than 30 days! What a blessing! Matt and I were sad to leave, but we are so excited about the new chapter in our lives. Here we are on moving day, in June, after we had already made our final walk through and gotten pretty emotional about waving goodbye.

(notice the sunglasses to hide the emotion :)! Also, notice that I was 28 weeks pregnant...I had a good excuse not to have to help too much on this move :)!)

- In April, we found out that our little peanut was a girl! We had the family up to our house again to celebrate and share the news! Aunt Meredith brought the cutest cake and we announced that her name was Ella Jane so Aunt Meredith also brought a book just for Ella!



- Once we got to Little Rock in June, I found a new Dr. and got some 4D pictures taken of Ella! There are over 40 of them and a 45 minute video too, but I will just put a few on here for you to see. I am picking the pictures that show her different little expressions.

Isn't she just the sweetest little thing?! I can't wait to meet her! We love her so much already! She is definitely going to be an active little girl, I am afraid! :)



- In June, we celebrated our 4 year anniversary! I honestly think I fall more and more in love with Matt everyday! I am so happy that he is my husband and I get to spend the rest of my life with him! He is such an amazing leader for our family and is definitely my rock! He is such a blessing in my life. For our anniversary (and a pre-baby get away), we spent a long weekend in Dallas. We got to see George Strait open the new Cowboys stadium and did some shopping and relaxing. Here are some pictures from our wedding 4 years ago and from our Dallas get-away.








The stadium was amazing, as you can probably tell! Of course George Strait, Reba McIntire, Blake Shelton and Leanne Womack put on a great show too! We had a such great time.




- We have had such a great summer getting settled in Little Rock. I have had 3 showers for Ella which were so pretty. The first one was an extended family shower for my Dad's side of the family. Some of my dad's cousins gave it for me. The second shower was with a lot of my sorority sisters that are in the Little Rock area. It was so fun to get to see everyone and get caught up. I have posted a picture with all the hostesses. The last shower was given by my sisters and my aunt and cousin. It was so much fun and was so beautiful! I just loved getting to see everyone at my showers. We are all so excited for Ella to get here.


(Notice the cute blocks Ella's Aunt Elizabeth made... They turned out great!)

- So after all that and much more, here we are in Little Rock. We have settled into a little rent house in the Heights area and are expecting the arrival of our baby girl! (***I will get pics of Ella's room and my growing belly posted as soon as I get them onto the computer***) Matt is doing good and enjoying his new job with Lexicon, Inc., a part of Schueck Steel. He has his own office with a window!! :) (that is a big change from his Wal-Mart headquarter cubicle) He is starting to get the hang of things and is learning a lot. He is feeling a lot more comfortable and confident.



We are continually humbled by all the blessings that God has given us and the amazing changes that have occured in such a small period of time! This has been a whirlwind of a year so far and we know the best is yet to come! Our little baby girl will be here any day. We are patiently waiting on her to to come into the world. I have been taking daily walks to try to speed this process along (even though it is supposed to be an old wives tale and doesn't really put you into labor). But, I figure it can't hurt anything! :) She is so funny and has such personality already. She will start moving around like crazy whenever she hears her dad call her name. It is so funny! She loves it when he talks to her and reads to her. Even if she is sleeping she will wake up and start moving around. She is also very good at telling me when it is time for a meal. Everyday at breakfast, lunch and dinner she just is wild! I love it! Even though it is getting a little painful now since she is so big in there, I still enjoy watching and feeling her move around in my belly! It is so amazing seeing her little body roll around from side to side. This has been such a great pregnancy. I have truly enjoyed it a lot, but am getting to that uncomfortable point where I am getting very ready to see her and to hold her in my arms! As you can tell, we just can't wait. We are so anxious for the little things that comes along with being parents and having a sweet little baby. Until then, I am going to savor all the quiet moments at home and the sleep that I am getting right now before she comes!