First comes love, then comes marriage ...

Four years ago I was incredibly blessed to say "I do" to the love of my life. Marriage has been a crazy journey with ups and downs, ultimately falling more in love with the person I pledged forever to in the beginning. I know in April when "then comes baby in the baby carriage" will change it all the more, but I am so excited about what parenting holds and am glad to have Scott as my baby daddy. 

As a fun little walk down memory lane, here are a few pictures of Scott and me and our years together. 

Left: Scott meets the parents. (2006) / Right: My social club ring ceremony. We're engaged! (2006)

Left: Engagement photo (2007) / Right: We finally said "I do!" (2007)

Left: Honeymooning in Jamaica (2007) / Right: We graduated! (2008)

Left: Our first house (2009) / Right: Scott is now a master of business (2011)

Left: We'd just found out a couple of weeks before that we were going to be parents (2011) / Right: Now we're anxiously awaiting our little boy's arrival!

I can't wait to see what the next years bring, and I look forward to a lifetime of standing next to this man in all of those pictures!

(P.S. Last year's anniversary post.)

River Market rendezvous

This Thursday is Scott and my fourth anniversary. To celebrate, Scott surprised me this past Friday with a one-night getaway to Little Rock for dinner with "none other than your dashing husband," as my email invitation read. The invitation also told me that my gray Toyota "limo" was leaving at 5:45 and that I was to be packed and ready to go by then. 

My handsome date for the evening//The Christmas tree in the lobby of the Capitol Hotel

When we arrived in Little Rock, we checked in to our hotel and walked down the block to dinner at Ashley's in the Capitol Hotel. Everything we ate was delicious, especially the steak I got, which had to be well done. (As a former medium rare girl whose major pregnancy craving is red meat, I'm always overjoyed to find a place that can cook it to my pregnancy-required temperature and not having it eat like shoe leather.) The next morning, we slept in, went to lunch at the Flying Fish, then did some shopping before we headed home.

It was a great escape to galavant downtown, linked arm-in-arm with my favorite person, and feel like we were city dwellers for a day.

Ashley's window decked out for Christmas//River Market view

Week 20: Breathless

If week 20 had a song, it would either be Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" (you know, because "we're half way the-re!") or the Corrs' "Breathless." 

On the one hand, we're at the half way point and (hopefully) have more weeks behind us than ahead of us to meet our son. We've been slowly getting the nursery ready (the crib and bookshelf are assembled, and we have bedding just no mattress) and making other plans for his arrival, like when to start taking the birthing classes at the hospital, etc. I'm hoping that, in all the preparation, April will sneak up on us. 

And then there's the matter of breathing. The stairs I climb every morning to get to my office have become my Everest. When I get to the top, I'm huffing and puffing like I'm about to blow some unsuspecting pig's house down. Also, the joint task of standing and singing at church has become a little more difficult. 

This week I learned that our little guy is a night owl. After a few days of not feeling him fluttering around, I was surprised and relieved to find him kicking around at 3 a.m. Saturday morning. He was having a grand old time kicking and flipping. I told Scott that it probably didn't bode well for our future nights' sleep. 

Four favorite pins: Christmas crafts and baby boy wishes

My Pinterest has been dominated by two things this week: Christmas and my baby boy. Here are four of my favorites from this week.

1. Burlap Christmas wreath: I keep saying "I'm going to make a burlap wreath!" and have yet to accomplish it. I love how it is so interchangeable with the seasons, like with the addition of the Christmas colored flowers on this one. Plus, I would look really cute with some Razorback decorations next fall.

2. Baby cardigan — with elbow patches! I've found that little boy clothes are either emblazoned with monsters and dump trucks, kind of frilly looking, or have some kind of ironic statement on them. I just want a little boy, you know? This cardigan fits the bill. It's not too grandpa and still has a cute boy look about it.

3. Name pennant: I love these personalized name pennants for the baby's room. It would be so cute in a little frame collage over his crib or changing table. Plus you can pick the colors so they coordinate with the space.

4. Pinwheel baby mobile: Another thing I've been on the hunt for is a simple mobile for over the baby's crib. All of the ones I had seen prior to this one were over-the-top cutesy stuffed animals or ultra modern. I think this one provides visual interest both the baby and his parents can appreciate.

Maybe this weekend I'll finally get around to making that wreath. Probably not, but it never hurts to have a positive attitude about it.

I've been Tebowed

If you had asked me a couple of years ago to share my thoughts on Tim Tebow, I would've said I didn't like him. I don't really think it was any fault of his own; he just so happened to be wearing the wrong color jersey.

Since I was little, I was taught that we did not like the Florida Gators, and it is a banner I still carry to this day. Tebow was the guy throwing their touchdowns, causing his team to be ranked over mine, and winning the Heisman trophy over Arkansas' Darren McFadden. Therefore he was to be disliked. 

Lately, Tebow has been in the news — less for his performance as quarterback for the Denver Broncos and more for his outspokenness regarding his faith. Most are speaking out against his displays of faith on the field, mocking him and ridiculing him for his beliefs.

It's made me reassess my former opinions of number 15, realizing they were incredibly petty in the first place. Tebow is an incredibly genuine person, in my opinion. He doesn't point his finger to the sky in feigned gratitude on Sunday only to get pulled over for a DUI on Tuesday. When he was at the University of Florida, he took his coach, Urban Meyer, and his family on a mission trip with him, an event Meyer notes as a life-changing event for his family.

With Tebow at the helm, the Broncos have be on an inexplicable winning streak, causing his critics to turn up the volume. In our Sunday morning class yesterday, someone noted that it's not because Tebow has been setting throwing records or making incredible plays. I'm not saying that, if Jesus is on your side that you will suddenly be Super Bowl bound, but I think it has given him another avenue to show Christ. He never takes the credit for himself. He's always giving praise to his team, for their skills and persistence, not show-boating like a lot of big name quarterbacks.

This quote from Tebow when faced with the voice of his critics — one of his own teammates — is one of the things I want to work on in my life.

That's an incredible attitude to have, one we should strive to have in our daily lives. Are we telling Christ we love him as much as we should? Are we giving him the glory in good times and in bad? Look for opportunities to shout out your love for Christ this week.

Life lately, according to Instagram

Recently, I've become obsessed with the Instagram app. It's a fun way of snapping little shots throughout the day I might feel silly pulling out the camera for. Here's a little of what has been going on lately. 

1. Baby Santa hat and booties for next year's Christmas card 

2. Scott had the Sleep Sheep set up like this when I got home a few weeks ago. He said that the sheep knew the baby would be a boy. He was right!

3. The crib is here! Now for the assembly part. 

4. Apple cider on a cold night.

5. Scott surprised me with a new Christmas tree Tuesday night. He's definitely a keeper. 

6. My feet are slowly being eclipsed. 

Have a great weekend! We're finishing up decorating for Christmas and getting started on the nursery.

P.S. Be sure to follow me on Instagram!

Last night's dinner: Loaded baked potato soup

I'm not the cook in the Hannigan household; that's no secret. Lately, though, I've been itching to get in the kitchen, and not just to raid the pantry and eat peanut butter out of the jar. I don't know if it's my maternal instincts kicking in, but I've been pinning lots of dinner ideas on Pinterest.

At the top of my "to eat" list was this loaded baked potato soup made in the crockpot. With my Tuesday night classes, dinner is a bit of a balancing act. Sometimes Scott will eat then make something for me when I get home, sometimes he'll wait, and sometimes it's a "grab whatever you can out of the fridge and make due" kind of night. I decided that this soup would be a good Tuesday night dish because Scott could eat it when he got home, I could eat it later, and it would still be warm and ready either way. Plus we have leftovers for Wednesday night before church.

Plus it incorporated my favorite kitchen tool: the crockpot. I love the crockpot. You dump all the ingredients inside that morning, turn it on and go. It's like fairies are making your dinner while you're at work.

This soup is perfect for those who are fans of O'Charley's version. We topped ours with cheese, ham (we didn't have bacon bits), and sour cream. I ate two bowls without shame. I knew I'd done well when Scott said, "Wow, honey, this is really good." It's a keeper!

Here's the recipe if you're interested!

Ingredients:
1 30oz. bag of frozen, shredded hash browns (I used Ore Ida)
3 14oz. cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 pkg. cream cheese (This can't be fat free. It won't melt.)

Combine everything except the cream cheese in the pot. Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat (I did 10 because of timing, and it was just as good). An hour before you're ready to serve, add the cream cheese and maintain heat until completely melted. Serve with whatever baked potato fixings you'd like.

(Recipe source here.)