My Husband's 25th Birthday...

I started this post the day I found out I was pregnant, and I'm finally getting around to posting it 4 months later... but I wanted to document my feelings from that day so I'm just posting it way after writing it.

Today is Friday, August 14th, it is my husband's birthday, and I found out this morning that I am PREGNANT!
 Let me start from the beginning...
We got married one year, one month, and two weeks ago on June 28, 2015. In November, we decided that we were ready to start trying to have a baby. A couple of months later, I became one of those crazy people who tracks everything. Every month I would text Hannah that I just knew I was pregnant this month, and every month, my heart would break a little when the pregnancy test said "Not pregnant". In June, after talking to Mary Ellen we decided that if I still wasn't pregnant by November (one year of trying), we would look into testing and go from there. At the end of July, we went on a cruise and I just knew this would be it. When we were boarding the cruise, the sweet lady told me that they had to ask all women this question, but was I pregnant? With a lump in my throat, I told her no... I wanted to tell her that I hoped that answer would be different when we got back to Jacksonville, but I didn't want to jinx it. So at the end of baseball season last year, I had Nicole Jackson make a sweet onesie for me with a baseball that said "Daddy's Biggest Fan". It is so stinking tiny and absolutely melted my heart the very first time I saw it. Since then, I've prayed that I would be pregnant around a special occasion so it TD wouldn't get suspicious that I was giving him a present. So I looked on my Clue app yesterday and realized this cycle had been 33 days. I decided that I would take a pregnancy test this morning (TD is usually gone when I wake up), and I would wrap the onesie and give it to him tonight if I was. So I wake up at 6:20, I can hear him in the kitchen, and I decide that if it is positive, I will absolutely explode today trying to hold this secret in (I'm not good at surprises, FYI), so I go ahead and take it. The test I was using is a horizontal line for 'Not pregnant' and a cross for 'Pregnant', so I see the horizontal line, and thought "well, crap, there goes that" and sat the test down on the counter. By the time I looked again, there was a cross! I had to look and make sure that really meant 'Pregnant'. It did! I checked probably 10 times to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong, and took another test for good measure.

Of course I had imagined that I would actually be all fixed up when I told TD, but there was absolutely no way I could wait! I asked TD if he was about to leave, he said yes, I told him to please wait one second and ran into the office. I didn't have time to wrap it in a box, and I couldn't find a stupid gift bag, so I wrapped it in tissue paper and stuck it down in the same clear, plastic bag that Nicole had given it to me in and threw some tissue in it. (I didn't want to go ahead and wrap it because I thought that would jinx us) So I run back to the bedroom to get my phone (no way I'm not videoing this!), go in the kitchen (straight out of bed), and tell TD happy birthday and that I have a present for him. He asks me who it's from, and I say me, then I start videoing and he wants to know why I'm videoing him opening a birthday present, he pulls it out, and gave me the sweetest look and says "you're pregnant?" It was an absolutely precious moment, and I'm so glad I have it on video to watch forever and ever. I then text Mary Ellen the picture of the positive pregnancy test, and she tells me to come in that morning for an official test. So I do and it's positive! :) So Baby Dent is expected to arrive on April 17th! We are absolutely beside ourselves and cannot believe that the sweet baby that we have been praying for, will be here in less than 9 months!

That part is what I wrote the day that we found out, and reading it 4 months later, I can feel the same feelings I felt that day... the nervousness of taking the test, the anxiousness of waiting for it, the excitement of realizing I was really pregnant, and the joy that I felt when I told my sweet husband.

I was 4 weeks and 5 days the day that we found out. That Sunday, when I was 5 weeks, we told our immediate families and the people closest to us. To tell my family and the Wilsons, we were eating cake for TD, Whitney, and Karley's birthdays after church. I wrapped the onesie to give to him to open in front of them. Of course, we are dysfunctional, and Karley and Hayley are comparing who is taller as we are trying to open presents. So in the video that I have from telling them, you can hear them trying to decide who is taller in the beginning and absolutely nobody is paying attention to TD.

Today, I am 22 weeks and we have known for a little over 2 weeks that we are having a baby GIRL! I will finish my post about the gender reveal and post it, later, but we could not be happier! Her name will be Allyson Grace Dent (named after both of her aunts), and we will call her Ally Grace. There have been a few times before when I thought I was feeling her move, but wasn't sure if it was really her. Today is the first day that I, without a doubt, know I was feeling her. She enjoyed the choir's performance this morning at church :)

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

He or She... what will Baby Dent be?!?!

Question: Heartbeat?
Myth: 140+ indicates a girl, and below 140 is a boy.
Answer: First ultrasound was heartbeat was 176, and second ultrasound, it was 157... GIRL

Question: Draino test?
Myth: Pee in a cup and mix a tablespoon of Draino in it and wait for it to change colors, if it turns green, it's a girl, and if it turns blue, it's a boy.
Answer: Mine didn't change colors

Question: Chinese Gender Predictor?
Myth: Based on your age at conception and month of conception, an ancient Chinese gender predictor will tell you if you are having a boy or girl.
Answer: Says... GIRL

Question: Morning sickness?
Myth: Being extremely sick means you're having a girl... little to no sickness means it's a boy.
Answer: I was nauseous for most of the first trimester, but no vomiting and I've felt great since then... BOY

Question: Even/Odd Mayan test?
Myth: They say the Mayans determined gender by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year. If both are even or odd, you are having a girl, but if one is odd and one is even, it's a boy.
Answer: I conceived at age 23 in the year 2015... GIRL

Question: Ring test?
Myth: Tie your wedding ring to the end of a string and hold it over your belly, if it moves in a circle, it's a girl, back and forth is a boy.
Answer: Went around and around in a circle... GIRL

Question: Carrying high or low?
Myth: Carrying high is girl, and carrying low is boy.
Answer: Hayley says she thinks high... GIRL (or maybe she just knows that carrying high means girl and she wants it to be a girl?? :) )

Question: Legs more or less hairy?
Myth: Boys make their momma's legs hairier because of the high testosterone.
Answer: Less hairy... I can now go 2 weeks without shaving my legs (#winning)... GIRL

Question: Husband gaining or losing weight?
Myth: Husband gaining weight means boy, and losing weight means girl.
Answer: He says lost, and I've heard people ask him if he's lost... GIRL

Question: Skin?
Myth: Baby boys make their mommy's skin dry while baby girls give you smooth skin.
Answer: A couple of weeks ago, my skin was extremely dry... BOY

Question: Cravings?
Myth: Boys make their momma's want salty/sour foods, and girls make the momma crave sweets/fruit.
Answer: No real strong cravings... I just eat whatever I order or fix because chances are once the food is ready, I've changed my mind on what I wanted. Only thing I always want is fruit, specifically oranges... GIRL

Question: Mood swings/emotional?
Myth: Girls make their mommas moodier during pregnancy.
Answer: TD can look at me wrong and I will cry these days... GIRL


Majority of these say girl, but I have to constantly remind myself that there is no scientific proof behind any of these. We will find out in less than 2 weeks, and we are SO anxious! I know my husband is going to be the best daddy to our baby, but I think he would make the sweetest girl daddy, so I'm not so secretly hoping for a girl, but I would be thrilled to be the momma of the sweetest baby boy... who better love me like Hayes Grier loves his momma as a 15 year old! And yes, I ugly cried that episode of DWTS.

I have 2 other blog posts that I've started, but not finished (this one was started like a month ago), so chances are, next time I post, we will know what this sweet little bundle of joy is and the post will be a gender reveal!!

Baseballs or bows??

Too Early?

I struggled with finding the answer to "how early is too early?" for several weeks. On August 14, I found out that I was finally pregnant and I wanted everyone to know. I told my husband immediately (it was his birthday... I don't think all the money in the world could have bought a better present this year), and we told our families and close friends 2 days later. We had been trying for the past ten months, everyone around us knew it, so we felt that it was only fair that they knew our good news as soon as possible. Of course, we wanted EVERYONE to know (via social media), so I of course turned to Google to find out how soon was too soon. Every answer I read basically said "there is no right or wrong time; just whatever is right for your family"... but there were always more reasons to wait than reasons to go ahead and announce. So I am putting this out there, so hopefully when a woman who has been trying to get pregnant for months and months and months finally gets pregnant and she googles "how soon is too soon?" or "is 6 weeks too early to announce pregnancy?", she will find this, and she will see the good about possibly telling the world "too soon". So this is why we decided at 5 weeks that we would tell our families and close friends... and why at 6 weeks and 4 days that we would announce our pregnancy on social media:

• I am pregnant! There is a teeny tiny baby (who was the size of a sesame seed when we told the people closest to us and who was between the size of a lentil and a blueberry when we announced on Facebook) growing inside of me, and that alone deserves to be shouted from the rooftops.
• I am bloated... most days I'm already too fat for my skinny jeans, and if you see me out and notice this, I don't deserve to have you pass judgement on me for it.
• This pregnancy happened. No matter what happens from now until April, this is my first pregnancy and I will refuse to pretend like it's not.
• We have prayed for this pregnancy and this baby for almost a year. We have had family and friends pray for us and this baby. God deserves the glory for blessing us with this baby regardless of what will happen in the future.
• We believe in the power of prayer, and the more people that know, the more people we have praying for us.

We did have our first ultrasound today, and we saw the sweetest flicker of a heartbeat that I could ever imagine. Baby Dent was wiggling all around and my heart could explode with love for this sweet baby that is only a little over 2 centimeters long. Everything looked good, and the heart beat was 176.

Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy.

A Year in Review: 2014

Looking back, 2014 was a big year for us. We got married and had all of the festivities that go along with a wedding, we bought a house, TD started his teaching career, my sister graduated from college, my brother graduated from high school, TD went to Haiti, we got a puppy, we attended weddings, and we had a whole lot of fun! I have decided that I pretty much suck at blogging on a regular basis but I am very good at taking pictures :)

Here's what our year consisted of...

• January

Tyler Dent was recognized as AISA 2A Coach of the Year for the 2013 season

We had a snow ice day

Andalusia shower

Georgia shower

• February

Baseball season started... and I had a really good hair day!

The girls spent a weekend at the beach celebrating this bride-to-be

• March

Opp vs. Andalusia... at Andalusia... TD gets thrown out, Holt hits an in the park grand slam, and we went into extra innings. Andalusia won by 1 run, but it was one heck of a ballgame

We bought our first house

This beautiful best friend of mine got married

• April

Holt went to his senior prom... with no hair

Miscellaneous shower

Andalusia won the first round of the playoffs...

• May

...and the second

Holt played his last baseball game

Hayley graduated from South with a Bachelors in Psychology

Couples shower

Holt and Whitney graduated from high school

• June

Spent a weekend at the beach with these beautiful bridesmaids of mine

ABC Shower

We got our marriage license

TD went to Haiti... a week before our wedding, but I'm SO glad he did!

Monogram shower

My maid of honor broke her nose the week of my wedding, but she was still beautiful...

...see??

Became Mrs. Dent

• July

Went dress shopping for this bride-to-be

We bought a new(er) Tahoe for TD

• August

TD started teaching US History

We celebrated his 24th birthday

Football season started

• September

We went to the circus

I turned 23

Football season continued

• October

We celebrated homecoming

• November

We decorated our house for Christmas.. before Thanksgiving :)

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon traveling so we could be with both of our families

We got the sweetest puppy, Sadie

Shopped on Black Friday

• December

Celebrated Drew and Mallory

Enjoyed regular family walks

Slept in Christmas pajamas with this precious husband of mine

Christmas 

2015, you've got some big shoes to fill! Hope you're up to it :)

First Priority

**This post is a little scattered, and it is honestly just a bunch of random thoughts thrown together, but it is on my mind and my heart today.

 I have attended the First Priority (formerly FCA) meeting at Andalusia High School twice in the last couple of months. The first time I went, Tyler Dent was sharing his testimony, and today, I shared my testimony. I'm going to start going every week because it is a blessing to me and it is a good way to start off my Wednesday!

I have about a 15-20 minute drive to work in the mornings, so I was thinking during my drive today... when I was in high school, this group was called FCA, or Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It makes me so happy that this name has been changed to First Priority because I always thought that calling it "Fellowship of Christian Athletes" was somewhat limiting to your crowd that would come because not everyone who needs to be there is a Christian, and that's who we should be trying our hardest to get there... the lost. As Christians, it is our job and our mission in life to share the gospel, the good news, with the lost.... the unsaved... the ones who are going to hell unless they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

So students, particularly Andalusia High School students, make it a priority to make it to these meetings on Wednesday mornings. Trust me... if I can wake up 30 minutes earlier to get there, you can, too. Invite your peers to come. Maybe someone isn't coming because they haven't personally been invited... or they don't feel welcome... it might just take you letting them know that you would love for them to come next week.

As you probably know, my testimony was centered around my wreck. And just like all the other times I've shared my testimony, the last thing I said this morning was, "About a year after my car accident, Hayley and I were getting ready in our bathroom, and she said 'Hillary, I need to ask you a question.' I had no idea what was about to come out of her mouth, but I said 'okayyy' and she asked, 'If you would have died that day, would you have gone to heaven?' And I without a shadow of a doubt know that I would have." I then told them that the same thing that happened to me, could happen to any one of them; we never know when our life is going to be changed forever by something like that, but everyone there needed to make sure before they left that they knew where they would spend eternity.

I don't think that most high school students realize how important that it is to know with absolute certainty that they are saved, that they have placed their trust in the Lord, and that if anything happens to them, they will spend eternity with Him. They think they have their whole lives ahead of them... and in a perfect world, where nobody dies young, they do. But in this world, in a world that is corrupt and so imperfect, you never know what day is going to be your last.

Mr. Searcy challenged the students to "be bold"... everyone has a story, tell people your story, tell people what Christ has done for you... invite them to next Wednesday's meeting. This is my invitation to every student at Andalusia High School... meetings are every Wednesday morning at 7:15 in the cafeteria. If someone takes you to school and they can't get you there that early, talk to Coach Dent at school or message me on Facebook. We would be happy to come pick you up on our way. Parents, encourage your teenagers to be at these meetings. There was a much better crowd at today's meeting than there was at the one I went to last month, but every seat in that cafeteria should be taken... standing room only. Wouldn't it be great if there were so many students showing up to hear a personal testimony or a short devotion that the speaker needed a microphone for everyone to hear?

A Little Bit of Everything

• Alabama vs. West Virginia

August 30th, we went to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game... Alabama vs. West Virginia. We had a great time, and Alabama won... roll tide!

This was on the way. We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Montgomery for breakfast. Of course, TD didn't want to wait until then to eat, but I won that battle... Chick-fil-A is always worth the wait!

The Andalusia vs. UMS game was the night before in Mobile, so we got home late, and got up early to go to Atlanta; I was exhausted! TD is used to functioning on little sleep... the boy wakes up at like 4:45 to go run most mornings during the week, and he is always at school at like 6:30 except on Friday because the team eats breakfast, but hello... school doesn't start until 8:00?!?! Whatever... to each their own. Anyways, I was practically falling asleep during the game. During every time out, I would try to lay my head on his shoulder to take a "quick nap"... that didn't work out.

This is on the Marta after the game... we were basically Marta pros after this.

• Circus

A few weeks ago, we took Cruise Johnson to the circus... he had talked about it the week before, and Hannah had a doctor's appointment that day, Matt had to teach RAs at church, so we volunteered as tribute. Just kidding- I've never even seen that movie or read the book, and we wanted to take him. If you have never been to a Covington County circus, you are not missing out, but Cruise loved it!

We decided this night that we are going to start a circus... you take "free tickets" to the local schools for kids 14 and under (2 per adult), then the adults have to pay $15 each. It's a million dollar idea!

His $10 sword... Matt sent $20 with him; he spent $7 on food (we went to Dairy Queen before, but he wanted "circus food"), $10 on a sword, $2 on a coloring book, and $1 on peanuts... and he doesn't like to color and he doesn't eat peanuts. 

Now for the good stuff...

This girl is hanging upside down by her feet, and if you look closely (close to the middle- where the other end of the rope is going), you will notice that 3 men are holding the rope. If they accidentally let go of that rope, she is done.

Cruise was so excited to see animals, he just knew that they would have elephants because they had peanuts, and elephants like peanuts. Well, they didn't have elephants, but they did have...

Dogs. Dogs that did tricks like jump over hurdles and roll over. Seriously, it was a joke.

• Angels Walking

My parents (mostly my momma... Bob doesn't know what I'm getting until I open it) gave me a Kindle for my birthday. So last week, I asked TD what book I should buy to read. I used to read all the time, and I really wanted to start back. He said something along the lines of "you really think I know a good book to read?" so I asked my Facebook friends, and I got so many good ideas for books to read! I had several people suggest Karen Kingsbury, and one specifically suggest her Angels Walking series, she said the first book of the series was about a baseball player. I researched all of the books suggested, and the first book of the Angels Walking series was about a former baseball player named Tyler... oh my gosh! It was a given... I had to read it first! I started reading it Wednesday, and finished it Sunday (last night). The plan was to read two or three chapters a night, but I should have known better! I couldn't put it down! I was in tears; I can't give a summary because I basically tell everything that happens... but read it! If you have a Kindle, and can tell me how I can let you "borrow" it, tell me and I will! It was so so good! I can't wait to read more of her books.

• Andalusia football

This was after the Trinity game, our only win.

Yes, we are 1-4. Yes, it is discouraging. Yes, we have played good teams. Yes, we fully intend to win the rest of our games. Coaching, in my opinion, is the riskiest career... like ever. You have no control what-so-ever of your "success" in the eye of the public. Your team loses, you are a bad coach; your team wins, you are a good coach. People don't realize that you can lose and still be a good coach. Coaching is the only career where your "success" is measured by how 11 teenage boys decide to play that night. "And that's all I've got to say about that."

Oh yeah... Go Bulldogs!