5 weeks!!

Well Mommy and Daddy are ready for this little man to be here!! The room is ready, the clothes are bought, the carseat is installed in the car and the diaper bag is packed. Daddy is ready to take the time off work, Grandpa and Nana Batton are looking at plane tickets to come meet the newest little grandbaby and Grandma Moyer will be coming sometime in Sept to get her spoiling time in. The Dr said that everything is going perfect and things are on track. Looks like we will have this little man before or right at 5 weeks from now. I can't believe how fast time has flown by but now that I have said that time will slow way down....that is just my luck! :)
Dakota is truly a little miracle and we are so thankful that God chose us to have this special little boy. We can't wait to hold him and see what he looks like....Daddy is always saying that he is afraid that he won't be cute but as the mommy I think that he will be beautiful and we won't care what he looks like!!
I will try to start keeping this a little more updated and will let you know when he gets here!!

Maternity Potos!

This past weekend was so much fun. My friend Megan is a photographer and took my maternity photos this and she did a awesome job. I love every single one that I have seen so far. She took a ton and I know that she has her plate full trying to edit them all and pick and choose which ones are the best. These are just a few of the ones she took.
If you are ever in the NC area and would like some great pictures then make sure you look her up!!

28 weeks!!

Dakota is doing so good! We had an ultrasound today and he is getting so big. He now weighs 2lbs and 7ounces and is about 15 inches long. We are getting ready for a big boy! =)
Pregnancy is going so well....I have loved every single minute of it. He is a busy little boy and I am getting punched and kicked non stop but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Catching up

Well it has been awhile again....hopefully I can get better at this stuff. I trust all of you had a wonderful Christmas season and a very Happy New Year. It is hard to believe that it is Valentines Day already....where has the time gone?! We had a great time in CO with my family and then New Years in SC with his family. We came home and got right back into the swing of everyday life here in NC.

Baby Moyer is doing great!! I am now 16 wks along and have been feeling great. I guess I have been one of the lucky ladies and haven't had morning sickness at all!! I have been very thankful for that! We have had a couple of scares but all in all everything has been going great. I can't believe that I am almost half way. We have so much to do before this baby arrives that it makes me dizzy just thinking about it!! SOOOO....I guess the big news is.....IT'S A BOY!!! We had a ultrasound on monday of this week and the little munchkin say on his little hiney and kept his legs crossed. Mommy wasn't so happy because I have been itching to buy things but haven't wanted to because I frankly didn't want to stand in line at customer service to return things. They scheduled me for another ultrasound for next month and that had to satisfy me and I was already praying that he would cooperate with me because I didn't know how many more chances I would get to find out. Wednesday morning my phone rang and it was the Dr's office and I knew they only called if something was wrong....so I cautiously answered the phone only to be told that my blood work had come back positive for down syndrome. This news hit this mommy like a ton of bricks and to be honest I freaked out and started bawling my eyes out. They said that the chances of the baby having downs was 1-164. So they scheduled me for a level 2 ultrasound the next day at a fetal specialist in Wilmington. Marcus got off work early on thursday and we made our way to the dr. That morning I had just felt like the Lord had told me not to worry that everything was going to be ok and that song was going through my head..."He never has failed me yet." Neither one of us was nervous, maybe a little anxious, the whole way down there and we talked and laughed and enjoyed each others company. Well to make a long story short.....the Dr came in after the ultrasound and said that there was nothing on there that would make her think or worry about his baby having down syndrome, she said that everything looked really good. Mommy and Daddy were so relieved and so happy. During the ultrasound they were able to see that it was a boy and let me tell you if you could have seen the smile on Marcus's face and heard him laugh and clap...it was priceless!! He is over the moon to be having a little boy!!! I think I have my hands full tho....this little man was a busy little bee in there. The tech just sat there and laughed at him and she turned it on 4D and we watched him for about 5 minutes just play with his hands an put them in his mouth and wave and scratch his knee...it was the cutest little thing. I was a little dizzy from them having to lay me almost on my head to get him to cooperate with us but it was totally worth it!! We can't wait to see little Dakota Bowdrie and to hold him and tell him what a miracle he is!!

Ok~so enough of this mommy bragging.
Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life!! Marcus, I love you with all my heart!! God blessed me so much when he allowed you to come into my life and for us to fall in love! I can't believe that we have been together almost 9 1/2 years and married almost 6! You are a great husband and take such good care of me. I know that you are going to be the best Dad and I can't wait to watch you with our son!! I love you!!

Well last night it started snowing here and we woke up this morning to 6 inches of snow. It hardly ever snows in NC and so this is big!! HA I looked out my window this morning and saw a bunch of snowmen around our neighborhood and saw a snowball fight in progress. My yard is beautiful because no one has stepped in it and I love it that way!!

So I'm shutting up now!! I hope that you all have a very Happy Valentines Day and a wonderful weekend!

The Best Christmas Present Ever!!!

After 3 years of trying and many many prayers and tears and doctor appointments and fertility treatments Marcus and I are expecting a baby!!! We are so excited and so thankful that God has blessed us with this precious miracle and especially at Christmas time. We have both said that we dont' need anything for Christmas because we have already got the best gift ever!!! Thank you to everyone who helped us pray and were there for us.....we really appreciate it. We truly have the best friends ever.
Stay Tuned for more baby news!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Marine Corps Marathon

It all started at 5:30 on a cold Sunday morning in Washington DC with the sound of the alarm buzzing. We get out of bed with mixed emotions...Marcus was excited and I wanted to crawl back into bed. We got ready, checked out of the motel, loaded the car and then walked to the metro. By 6 in the morning the place was packed out with standing room only, if that, on the train. We took the short ride into the city and got off at Arlington National Cemetary where the race was to begin at 8. We hugged the guys goodbye and wished them luck and then went to the starting line to wait for the race to begin. The wheelchair group started first, I have a lot of respect for those people, most of them were military servicemen who had lost limbs in the war, it was awesome to see them ride in this race. Then at 8 sharp the cannon went off and all 30,000 of the runners took off for a 26.2 mile run around DC. Jenny and I jumped on the metro again and went to starbucks and enjoyed a nice warm drink and something to eat. Mile marker 18 wasn't too far from where starbucks was so we walked down there and waited on the guys to cheer them on. We got to see the first wheelchair people and then the first runner as they crossed the 18 mile marker......after looking at some of them I was so happy to be standing on the side lines cheering and not running! The first runner hit mile 18 in 1 hour 38 minutes. After a while we saw our men and started screaming and hollering and it was good to see them still smiling....although one of the first words out of Marcus's mouth was "Where is the ibuprofen?" HAHA Who could blame him and Travis for wanting some relief after pounding the pavement for that long. We then ran to down the street to see them run between mile 19 and 20 and again we were met with smiling faces. We decided it would be best to just go to the finish line instead of trying to go and meet them at mile 23 and that was probably the best idea we had all day! Seriously the metro was a nightmare and I thought we were never going to get on. For some reason they decided to shut down the escalators....stupid idea but I wasn't in charge. HA We finally got on the metro and had to stand in a small corner squished together with everyone else....you would think there would be a limit to how many people they could get on that thing. OH...the smells that you smell on those things are horrid...you can tell those who take showers and those who don't....it was disgusting just take my word for it! Anyway~we got to the finish line and waited and finally we saw them coming in with their little space blankets around them to keep them warm after sweating for so long. They did awesome and crossed the finish line in 4 hours and 10 minutes and were still smiling and laughing. Good Job Marcus, Travis, Matt and Conner...ya'll did a great job!! All in all it was a great weekend and we had a blast. Marcus is planning on doing it again next year.....ya'll should come and join him. He is trying to get me to run it with him....HAHAHA that is a huge laugh!!!!

HAZARDOUS TO YOUR WAIST

WARNING: This could be dangerous to your diet. There may be a chance that you will go over your calorie count for the day. This may cause dissapointment when you step on the scale the next time.
Ok Ok....so I'm just being a little funny but seriously you have got to try this recipe. I have felt for awhile that I have gotten in a rut with my cooking and decided to do something about it. I promptly went to the nearest bookstore which happens to be Barnes and Noble and started looking for something that would help me out. I found it!! The book is called "America's Most Wanted Recipes". It is full of recipes from resturants. I have had a great time experimenting with some of them. Some we didn't like so well and others, like this one, we have loved!! I just thought I would share. (I tried to find a picture of it but the resturant didn't have one on their site and I forgot to take one)

Blue Mountain Grilled Chicken Sandwich

4 hamburger buns
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (I used Tony's)
Teriyaki sauce
Bacon
Swiss Cheese
Lettuce
Safari sauce (I will give the recipe for this at the end of this one)

Rub the chicken with the seasoning and then pour some teriyaki sauce on top and marinade them for 30 minutes. Place them on the grill and grill them till they are nice and done. (I made sure that I kept putting more sauce on them while they were on the grill)
Assemble your sandwich with the chicken, bacon and cheese and the safari sauce. You can put lettuce, tomatoes, pickles or whatever your little heart desires.

Safari Sauce
One 8 ounce jar of Mango Chutney
1 cup of mayo
1/2 cup of yellow mustard
1/2 cup of honey
2 teaspoons of curry powder
Dash of Tabasco sauce
I couldn't fin the Chutney anywhere in this town so I used Orange Marmalade and it was yummy! The sauce has a little zing to it but it taste like honey mustard.

I hope that you enjoy this as much as we did!!! Let me know if you tried it and what you thought!!