What's In a Name

The naming of baby girl Lowe has been a neat little Journey for J.Ed and I. I have to admit I pretty much had creative license over the naming of Robbins(my mom's maiden name) Bilby(my MIL's maiden name) Lowe(I guess this is J.Ed's contribution):) so I really wanted J.Ed to feel apart of the process this time. Well, apparently I forgot about that and decided before we found out it was baby girl is that our girl name would be Patterson(my great grandfather's middle name) Katherine(J.Ed's grandmother's middle name and after my granny Kate). The funny thing is I said this out loud on multiple occasions and not once did J.Ed object or really even give an opinion. he just kept saying, i want to wait to find out what it is before I really think about it. That's my engineer, the practical to my ridiculous, the level head to my day dreams and the thoughtfulness to my impulse. Love him.

So the big day came, baby Lowe is a girl. Great, can't wait to meet Patterson Katherine I think and right about this time my well laid plans begin to crash around me(drama added for effect). J.Ed tells me, I don't really like the name Patterson for a girl. Can you hear the crash?

Well after a couple weeks of back and forth with double names(J.Ed was going that direction). He pulls out the one. It's beautiful, strong, and sounds great with Lowe. Little girl will be Landry Katherine Lowe. The alliteration, the mongram, aah perfect! I really love it, even more than Patterson now(funny how things work) and I love seeing J.Ed beam with pride for coming up with it. So that's what's in that name and I can't wait to meet the face that goes with it.

I Phone Pics and 21 weeks

We had a great weekend just relaxing and running around town. With J.Ed off golfing my parents came up and we headed out. Went to the farmer's market in the morning and then headed to two great antique stores in Nolensville. I found both of the dressers below for baby girl's room but can't decide if the blue and white one(I love it) will go with my bedding I picked. I think it can "probably" work but I hate to buy based on probably! The we headed to Wendell Smith's, this incredible meat and three as seen on the food network where I proceeded to have fried chicken for the first of two times over the weekend! Oh the joys of pregnancy. Then we followed it up with an ice cream at Bobbie's Dairy Dip. To say I was full was an understatement! What a great and filling weekend we had though.

21 week update:
Headed to the Dr. Friday and still moving right along. Apparently I am carrying baby girl really high b/c her weight is on track but I am measuring 26 weeks at 21 weeks. I asked the Dr. if she was sure it wasn't just big mama but she pointed out that little girl is almost in my ribs so this might get uncomfortable soon! Still feeling good but I am starting to get that full all the time feeling where everything makes me feel like I have eaten to much no matter what the portion size. We have my 24 week appointment and another ultrasound at the end of July so more chances to check out the little one again in a couple weeks.

We are gearing up for a great Fourth of July weekend with the fam. Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th!

Dresser option 1 for little girl's room

Option #2
Hamming it up for the camera at Loveless for breakfast



Water play at school


Matt and J.Ed practicing in our front yard before their weekend golf trip

There goes our bank account...

I kid but seriously. Want to know why? Because we are having a GIRL!! We had our ultrasound this morning and everything looked good and we found out sweet baby Lowe is a little girl:) I had completely convinced myself it was a boy so I am still trying to wrap my head around this but completely cried when they said it was a girl so needles to say I am happy. J.Ed has thought it was a girl the whole time so he was not nearly as suprised by equally excited. More importantly everything looked good and she is right on track. Thanks for all your prayers and support over the past few months! We can't wait to welcome baby GIRL Lowe in November:)

Happy Father's Day

J.Ed in his #1 dad hat that Robbins made for him

My heart:)
His hat and card from Robbins
How cute is that, and how big are that kids feet!
Playing in Piper's pool with Haynes What a fun Father's Day we had! We started off with presents for dad. A custom, #1 dad hat and card from Robbins and a cordless drill from me. After church J.Ed and I headed to see Allegria, cirque du solei. It was great, I had never seen anything like it and it was a great afternoon for J.Ed and I to just have lunch and get to hang out. Then we headed over to the Kelton's for a cookout with our community group. To say I adore this group of people is an understatement. Who would have known 4 years ago and 10 kids later(including those that have moved away or are on the way) we would all still be fellowshipping together to laugh, learn and just have an all around good time. J.Ed, Robbins and I have been very blessed by our church family and look forward to many more years! So to you J.Ed the best father and husband in the world...Happy Father's Day. Carter said in church today that the #1 way a father can love and teach his children is to love the Lord and his wife first and model that in his life. Thank you for loving me and loving God even more. I am so grateful for your love, friendship and leadership in our family:) I can't wait to see what God has in store for our expanding family. I also want to give a shout out to J.Ed's dad,Pops, and wish him a fab father's day! He is hilarious, always a good time and a dr. of mixology but most importantly a deeply supportive man and he loves his boys(and his girls) to no end. Thanks for all you do for us!

I also want to say Happy Father's Day to the other best dad in the world, my dad! There are not enought thank you's in the world for you poppy. Seeing is how we are so much alike, below are the things I am thankful for that you have given me or things I want to be like you in:)

1. your eyes

2. your confidence

3. your stuborness

4. your generous spirit- a constatnt prayer of mine to give the way you do and so freely

5. a love of sports- J.Ed informed me the reason he married me was because of my love of Sunday golf watching-thanks dad!

6. your rule following- i struggle with this one sometimes but overall I am a pretty big stickler for the rules. Unless I have a better idea obviously(insert sturboness here).

7. Overall interest in politics, religion, current events- I always loved our in depth talks when we walked and our ideas to solve the world, even though they differ sometimes.

This is just a tiny glimpse of the things I am thankful for about you but most of all the joy of seeing you love mom and us through all the ups and downs and seeing your love for the Lord and your desire to follow Him grow is the greatest gift you have given me and my marriage. Love you Poppy! Happy Father's Day to all of you out there!

A Daily Challenge

As I constantly battle with the idea that I don't do enough, enough for my family, my friends, my work, my God, the quote below speaks to me as a reminder that God loves little offerings when given in faith.
"Giving up what you cannot keep does not necessarily mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.
You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive. In God’s hands, your offerings will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers."

Happy Birthday to William, Robbins 22 month update and 20 weeks pregnant(almost)

Playing with William's new toy

Hammering away

Happy Birthday William
Singing to the birthday boy
Making muffins with Nana
So sweet

His first culinary masterpiece- I'm not going to lie we switched the canned blueberries from the box for fresh and they really were the best muffins i have ever had.

We headed to Memphis this past weekend to visit for my sweet nephew William's second birthday. I absolutely love when these two are together. The play so great but also bring things out in one another that I adore. like Robbins is a bit louder then Robbins but when there together they just squeal with excitement and William knows his way around my parents house and toys so well and it's as if he's like"follow me Robbins I'll show you how to do it". So sweet.

I also got to spend some quality time with some great friends including one late night talk fest, thanks Alicia for introducing me to Jimmy Fallon's Thank You notes. My new favorite:) As most of you know I am a talker so 5 hour convos with a friend of 15 years is one of the most precious gifts to me. There is just something that swells your soul when you connect with people on a level like that. So grateful for relationships like that and looking forward to spending time with a few more of these type friends in July. You also might start to notice me getting a little more detailed and frequent with these posts. I love the idea of getting this printed for a baby book so i want to make sure I capture all the details. So feel free to skim over the baby details if it bores you.

Robbins 22 month update:

Little man is not so little. At his sick visit two weeks ago he was 32 lbs and 36 inches. He wears a size 8 shoe and is a jumping fool. He is really into balls especially basket and soccer balls and shooting hoops on his goal. He wants to be just like his dad and fix things so I found this great tiny little hammer at Loews so he can copy dad when he is out in the garage. He is such a talker and it amazes me how these sentences, full sentences, are coming out of his mouth. His favorite foods right now are waffles, strawberries, bananas, spaghetti, turkey dogs and cheese. The craziest change from this summer to last is to see him in the pool. This kid is crazy! He really has no fear so he is wearing a vest b/c he will jump in off the side of the pool without any warning (we are working on this) so we literally stand there with our hands out ready at all times. I love that he is a daredeveil but we really want to instill a healthy fear/respect of water as well. So since most swim lessons around here require you to be 2 (those that are not a million dollars at least), my friend Kelly who was a swim coach is going to come over and work with him some just to teach the basics. He already holds his breath under water and loves going under so I hope that is a good start for many years of good times in the water.

Almost 20 weeks and the gender reveal:

I will be 20 weeks Saturday and we find out what baby Lowe #2 is next Thursday. Right now things are moving right along. I feel good and have noticed the baby moving more, especially at night. I will say it is already hotter here in June then it was during August when I was pregnant with Robbins so that part is not awesome but our whole little family loves to be outside so pretty much I just drink a ton of water and deal with it, swollen fingers and all.

Random Pics (Second post of the day...go me!)

Here are some cute pictures from my phone I have collected over the last couple weeks.

A big thanks to the Meyers for Robbins first set of real gof clubs. Yes he is on a putting green, and yes it is in their garage. Their son is on his way to being the next Tiger Woods minus all the scandal of course.


Doing ready,set,go with Nana.

Helping dad in the wood shop/garage:) I want to eat those curls.

Thanks uncle Lee for my first UK visor.

Lee giving Robbins a birds eye view of the harbor in Charleston.

18 weeks and Memorial Day!

What a great but busy few weeks we have had. We went to Lexington to celebrate Pops 60th birthday and had such a great time with both sides of our family and all of our friends. We all gave him the "Nascar Experience" where he got to come to nashville and drive a for real race car! He loved it.

Then Robbins and I packed up the car and headed out on our first long distance solo car trip to Charleston. J.Ed had a business trip so he flew in later. I have a good friend who does this all the time so I reached out to her for tips and any advice for staying sane on a 9 hourish car trip. Luckily the kid was amazing, there and back. He had so much fun with Lee and Ryan and they were the best hosts. We went to the pool, the beach, ate great food and just had good relaxing qt together. We are very lucky to have them as friends. Charleston is so special to J.Ed and I and we were excited to get to bring Robbins back "to where it all began" 7 years(insert gasp here) ago.

Then Robbins, Dottie and I headed for a quick trip to Lexington last weekend to celebrate Ellie and Harper Chambers who will be joining us in August. It was so fun getting to see Emily open her gifts and celebrate with people who have been praying for these babies long before they were here. On a funny note, Robbins went crazy and when i say crazy I mean jumping from couch to couch and running in circles crazy. Why you ask? Well it was totally my fault. I am not a person who is anti some sugar or chocolate now in then by any stretch, it's just in reality we don't keep it in the house b/c yours truly and my other half will devour anythign like that. All that to say Robbins does not eat a lot of it. So trying to appease him as a tower of delicious cupcakes sat waiting to be eaten during the shower, I kept giving him M&M's to keep him away. Anyone who knows me will find it even funnier that it was M&M's as they are also my kryptonite. Anyway after about 10 minutes of M&M consumption and half a cupcake I literally had a mad man. It's funny now but at the time I really was like I think I might pass out and who's child is this? It was quite an experience and definitly made me a believer in the power of sugar in kiddos.

Well I guess I should talk a little bit about Baby Lowe. I will be 18 weeks Saturday and am feeling good. had a slump there for a couple weeks with neck pain and allergies but a trip to the chiropractor and some Zyrtec and all is well. At our 16 week appointment the heartbeat was great and everything looked good. We are finding out boy or girl on June 23rd. I am super excited but despite others beliefs I really don't care what it is. There are lots of little girls being born around the time I am due which would be great but I also love the idea of Robbins having a brother, there is a lot to be said for same sex siblings and their relationships. Anyway, sorry for the long one but I am a slow blogger so I had some time to cover.

Beach Baby
Think they are cut from the same cloth?